Ecobank shareholders approve Director General of SSNIT as board member

The Director General of SSNIT, Ernest Thompson is now a member of the Ecobank board. Shareholders approved his membership on the 10 member board at an Annual General Meeting Thursday.

SSNIT had in the past complained about not having representation on the board despite being the second largest shareholder in the bank with about 17 percent stake.

Chief Finance Officer of Ecobank Edward Botchwey tells Joy Business his appointment was purely based on competence.

“Generally, appointment to the board are based on what the individual brings onto the board and we have demonstrated that those who are coming on board are able to come onto the board are able to come on with those skills that we need,” he said, “going forward, we think that the future is bright because of the structures that we have put in place.”

Ecobank last year recorded one of the best financial performance since it began operations in Ghana. Profit before tax witnessed 67 percent growth, to 446 million Ghana cedis , while the Bank’s total revenue hit 857 million Ghana cedis, whiles business segments exceeded expectations with each segment experiencing growth in income in face of competition .

Ecobank’s balance sheet went up by 23 percent to 5.7 billion in 2014. Customer deposits grew by 30 percent to 4.2 billion Ghana cedis. Following the bank’s sterling performance each shareholder is expected to get 79 pesewas as dividend for every share held, representing an 83.7 percent increase as against what was paid to shareholders in 2013.

Mr. Thompson holds an LLB (Hons) and a Barrister-at- Law Degree from the University of Ghana. He also holds a Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Wales, Cardiff Business School in the U.K.

In addition, he has a Certificate in Finance and Investment Law from the North Western University of Chicago in the USA.

Mr. Thompson has worked with Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) since 1982, when he entered as a Legal Advisor. He also acted as the Solicitor Secretary for SSNIT, wherein he handled additional general legal matters and legal aspects of SSNIT investments, the’ breadbasket of a Pension Scheme.

He was instrumental in the conversion of the Social Security Provident Fund into a Pension Scheme in 1991, and led the SSNIT legal team that worked on the new Pension Law (Act 766).