Rousing Send-Off For Ebby

Staff of Standard Chartered Ghana has given their departing Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Central and West Africa, Ebenezer N. Essoka (Ebby), a rousing send-off at a specially organised farewell event.

Standard Chartered had earlier announced the appointment of Mr Essoka as the new Chief Executive Officer for the bank's franchise in South Africa.

Representatives of the staff union, senior staff and management who addressed the gathering commended Mr Essoka for his contribution to the bank's growth in Ghana and wished him well in his new assignment.

As CEO, Central and West Africa, Mr Essoka has been responsible for establishing the bank's successful business in Côte d'Ivoire and has also led its re-entry into Nigeria, where Standard Chartered's business is now thriving. He is currently the Board Chairman of SCB Côte d'Ivoire and has sat on six other SCB subsidiary boards, including Nigeria and Pakistan.

During his tenure as CEO in Ghana, Mr Essoka's charismatic leadership and wealth of experience engendered a phenomenal growth of over 100 per cent and 152 per cent in Profit before Tax (PBT) and Earning per Share (EPS) respectively from 2001 to 2007 for Standard Chartered Bank Ghana Limited.

His efforts have largely inspired the breaking of the glass ceiling on the Ghana Stock Exchange by Standard Chartered Ghana's share price rising to an unprecedented high of GH¢38.00 per share.

As a result of his firm belief in developing local talents for international markets, Mr Essoka has championed the introduction of International/ Short-Term assignments which have prepared scores of staff from Ghana to take up increasingly more complex and senior roles within the Standard Chartered Group.

Currently, there are Ghanaians working in Standard Chartered offices in such places as Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Gambia, Tanzania, Botswana, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States.

Mr Hemen Shah, the incoming CEO for Ghana and Area General Manager, West Africa, was introduced to the staff at the event. He joined Standard Chartered in 2002 as Group Head of Strategy based in the UK and he took up the role of CEO, Tanzania, in 2004.

Under his leadership the bank has received recognition for being the Best Employer in Tanzania on three occasions and during his tenure Tanzania franchise's trading profit has more than doubled.

Commenting on his move, Mr Essoka said, “South Africa is one of the bank's growth markets and I am excited about the prospects my move holds.

Hemen is a key player in our team across Africa and under his leadership, the franchise in Ghana will continue to build on our impressive performance by creating greater shareholder value and reinforcing the Standard Chartered brand.”