GTBank Is Searching for a new CEO, as Segun Agbaje’s Tenure gradually Ends

Nigeria’s second most profitable bank, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Plc, is currently conducting a recruitment exercise with hopes of finding a new Chief Executive Officer before the end of 2020.

This comes as the bank’s current CEO, Segun Agbaje, prepares to leave office soon following the expiration of his ten-year tenure.

Speaking during the company’s recently held investor earnings call for H1 2020, Agbaje disclosed that a UK-based recruitment firm is helping to screen potential candidates. He also disclosed that the potential candidates are all made up of the bank’s five executive directors, namely: Mr. A. A. Odeyemi, Mr. H. Musa, Mr. M. J. Lawal, Mrs. M. C. Olusanya, and Mr. Jide Okuntola.

“What we are looking for now is a Managing Director for Guaranty Trust Bank Nigeria. The process has started, we have 5 executive directors and so all of them are going through the process at the moment. We are working with a consulting firm in the UK where we are looking for based upon what we see for the Nigeria business, what we think the future will hold, what we think Nigerian Banking will look like, we will then at the end of this process which will end at the beginning of the fourth quarter, we will then have a Managing Director for GT Bank Nigeria.  

“We have 5 executive directors going through the process and one will emerge before the end of the fourth quarter. So succession for GT Bank Nigeria is well under control,” Agbaje said during the investor call.

Agbaje Has Had a Good Run

56-year old Agbaje was appointed as the CEO of GTBank back in June 2011. Prior to his confirmation as CEO, he served as Acting MD and previously also served as Deputy MD between August 2002 and April 2011. He was appointed into GTBank’s board of directors in March 2003.

During his 10-year tenure as CEO, GTBank has witnessed enormous growth, becoming Nigeria’s second most profitable bank with total assets of N4.5 trillion and shareholders’ funds of over N720 billion as of H1 2020. His pragmatic and very strategic business decisions and cost-cutting measures all played huge roles towards positioning the bank as one of the best in the country.

What Is Next for Him?

Earlier this year, Segun Agbaje was appointed as a member of the board of American soft drink manufacturer- Pepsi Co. He also sits on the board of FMDQ OTC Plc.

Business Elites Africa understands that he will remain as a board member of Guaranty Trust Bank following the end of his tenure as CEO. Earlier this year during the bank’s earnings call for their full-year 2019 financial statement, Agbaje disclosed that he is looking forward to possibly taking up the position of CEO for a GTBank HoldCo which is currently in the works.