New ECOBANK Group boss hints of plans to acquire another bank in Ghana
The new group Chief Executive of ECOBANK, Thiery Tanoh has indicated that the institution has plans of acquiring another bank in Ghana.
The parent company of ECOBANK earlier this year acquired The Trust Bank for GHC220 million and merged it with ECOBANK Ghana. This has seen ECOBANK become the most profitable bank in Ghana and the biggest in terms of assets.
Speaking to JOYBUSINESS from bank’s headquarters in Lome, Mr. Tanoh however said it will go ahead with this move only if the opportunity presents itself.
“We are continuing to grow aggressively, growth whether through organic or the right acquisition, if it’s presented to us. I think any good opportunity should be looked at and anything that comes and fits our strategy at the right price is an opportunity that Ecobank should seize,” he said.
The ECOBANK boss noted that as long as the bank is serving its clients and fostering competition, “there is no reason we say we are too big.”
“Yes big can be ugly or beautiful but we will leave the ugly for the others and take the beautiful,” he said.
Mr. Tanoh adds that the bank has no plans of ending its recent takeovers, which has seen ECOBANK present in 35 countries in Africa.
He said: “We want to be number one. We want to grow faster than anybody else. We want to grow better. We are going to continue to have an aggressive, sustainable and healthy growth through acquisition if we find the right partners. That is the only way to be number one. When you find the right opportunities and seize them.”
Mr. Tanoh who was the immediate past Vice President of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), was in July appointed Group Chief Executive designate of ECOBANK to take over Arnold Epke.
He says his experience in project financing, commercial and investing banking over the years would help him take ECOBANK to another level
Mr. Tanoh joins Ecobank Group from the IFC, which is a member-institution of the World Bank Group that supports private sector development in developing countries.
During his 17-year career with the IFC, Mr. Tanoh has played a key role in expanding the IFC’s investment activity in Sub-Saharan Africa from US$140 million in 2003 to more than to US$3.5 billion in 2011.
His responsibilities at the IFC included business development, deal structuring and processing of some of IFC’s largest transactions, before taking on a broader management role.
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