Demola Sogunle, is the Chief Executive Officer of Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC, a member of the Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest bank by assets. Prior to assuming this role, he was the Deputy Chief Executive of the Bank.
Starting his tenure in June 2020, Demola was the Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, the largest pension fund administrator (PFA) in Nigeria in terms of customer base and assets under management. A position he held for 4 and a half years before assuming the role of Deputy Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC.
Through his immense contribution, the operations of Stanbic IBTC Bank has evolved over time. Stanbic IBTC Bank started in 1989, at which point the bank was a compact and well-focused investment bank, only doing wholesale on the corporate banking side. The Bank had no branch networks and were not doing retail banking, but using other commercial banks as its clearing banks.
Significantly, the bank has evolved since then, especially when the banking industry went through recapitalization and consolidation. It was during this period that the Bank acquired the legacy Chartered Bank and Regent Bank, two pure retail banks, and thus gained retail banking capability. Over the years, the bank’s branch network also expanded with the acquisition, with over 60 branches.
In 2007, Stanbic Bank acquired the majority stake in the legacy IBTC, which is how the bank became Stanbic IBTC Bank, another milestone in the evolution of the group. The bank decided to stick with the universal banking approach rather than the narrow banking approach that most banks have in Nigeria.
Under Dr. Demola’s watch, digitalization has been a primary strategy of the bank in the past three years. The bank has ensured its customers can see and experience the next level; therefore, the bank has made huge investments in these areas, including customer relationship management and process flow systems.
Stanbic IBTC has also created a team to work on innovative products and services for its customers. The bank therefore developed its app, APPiness, in the spirit of tech-innovations, which has reached almost 300,000 downloads in less than nine months and has almost 200,000 active users. This may seem a small number, but the bank’s internet banking platform is about seven years old, and the number of customers connected to its internet banking is about half a million. In the financial institution’s retail banking space, it has about 1.6 million customers.
A distinguished Ph.D graduate of University of Ibadan and Esut Business School, Demola has a wealth of banking experience which spans over two and a half decades in financial advisory, credit and marketing, project finance, global markets, risk management and compliance. Until his appointment in 2011 as Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, he was the Group Head of Risk and Chief Compliance Officer of Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC.
A member of Global Association of Risk Professionals, he also served as the Treasurer of Stanbic IBTC Bank, a position he held between February 2000 and November 2007.
Demola holds a First Class Honours degree in Agricultural Science and a Ph.D. in Land Resource Evaluation and Management, both from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria. He is an alumnus of Harvard Business School, AMP. He also holds an MBA in Banking and Finance from ESUT Business School, Nigeria and a Treasury Dealership Certificate from the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN). He is a member of the Global Association of Risk Professionals and the Risk Managers Association of Nigeria (RIMAN). He has attended several global leadership training programs such as The MIT Africa CE’s Program, Sloan School of Management, Boston (2018), Leading Change and Organisational Renewal, Harvard Business School, Boston (2015) and Strategic Thinking and Management for Competitive Advantage, Wharton Executive Education Program, Pennsylvania (2012).
Dr. Demola Sogunle believes that though traditional bedrock services must still be employed to drive growth, digitalization is fast becoming a requisite for major players in the financial world.
Stanbic IBTC is one of the few banks who look out for the well-being of the Nation’s economy. Just recently, Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC reiterated its commitment to the nation’s economic development by fostering international trade.
A disclosure that was made at the recent Africa China Agent Proposition (ACAP) webinar.
At the session, panelists discussed the challenges, which confronted Nigeria-China trade relations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the impact of recent regulatory pronouncements on trade between both countries.
According to reports on a National Tabloid, The Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, Dr. Demola Sogunle, said the organisation remained committed to facilitating trade activities for clients even in the face of prevailing challenges.
Sogunle said ACAP was launched in May 2019 to boost trade transactions between Africa and Asia, especially China, and help customers consummate the best business deals without necessarily travelling to China.
“These were made possible through our parent company, Standard Bank Group, in collaboration with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC),” he said.
Sogunle stressed that the Africa-China trade has the potential to create more jobs and reduce poverty. He urged participants to take advantage of ACAP for exclusive access to an array of exporters in China through an accredited agent, Zhejiang International Trading Supply Chain Co Ltd.
Interestingly, the Bankers’ Committee, which he heads, says it has agreed to support the Federal Government’s plan to conduct a focus-lab on three selected areas of the economy to accelerate investment and boost job creation.
