Sebastian Adigwe: Salute to a thoroughbred professional

Sebastian AdigweTHE life of Sebastian Adigwe, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Afribank Nigeria Plc., reminds one of the zero-to-hero stories of great men, who by dint of hardwork, have succeeded in carving out a niche for themselves.

Growing from a one-room apartment on Atan Road, East, Surulere in the 70s, Seb, as he is fondly called by friends and admirers, never belonged to the class of those kids who usually had their lives’ palm kernels cracked for them by their stupendously affluent parents. But, through sheer determination and the zeal to succeed, Seb has been able to prove that where you come from does not determine your success in life, but the efforts you put into it.

Seb, who cut his banking teeth with the defunct Continental Merchant Analyst, commenced training in Corporate Banking and Operations, in 1986. He later moved on to the marketing platform where he managed accounts of large corporate businesses conglomerate and multinationals.

In 1990, he left the bank to team up with the pioneering team setting up the Credit and Marketing Group of Ecobank Nigeria Limited, as an Assistant Manager. In view of his experience in leasing education and structuring, he was made the head of the Leasing Unit, where he designed the strategic focus of the bank’s lease finance portfolio, which was also effectively utilized as a tax planning tool.

In recognition of his achievements, within the short time frame, he was promoted to Deputy Manager within one year and given wider responsibilities of managing the accounts of local corporates, conglomerates and multinationals. As a further recognition of his managerial capabilities, he was promoted as a full manager in 1993, and became the head of the unit.

Within one year, he succeeded in transforming the unit to a highly profitable one in the bank and this earned this University of Lagos graduate of Accounting, another promotion to the Senior Manager level in 1994.

In order to explore his full potentials, the bank’s head office in Togo enlisted Seb in Ecobank Group Technical Staff Team. In this capacity, he was deployed to Ecobank Ghana to conduct the affiliate’s business, Risk Review, an exercise that is comprehensive in nature focusing on environmental risk assessment, capital deployment, credit risk management abilities, operational risk issues, adherence to policies and procedures, staff deployment and adequacy.

Having proved his selfworth on the task, he was given additional responsibilities of conducting similar exercise at Ecobank Group affiliates in Togo and Benin Republic, respectively.

Due to his superior business and analytical skills, as well as managerial competence, he was promoted to the position of an Assistant General Manager and also appointed to head the Corporate and Commercial banking Group in 1996.

Having made a name for himself in the profession at Ecobank, he joined Citizens International Bank in April 2001 as an Executive Director, in charge of Corporate, Commercial, Retail and Consumer Banking, Local and Upcountry branches, Public Sector, Federal Capital Territory, (FCT) businesses and all branches. In September 2002, he became the Acting Managing Director of the bank, a position he held until July 2003 when he was invited to lead a new management team in revamping and refocusing the IMB International Bank.

Seb, who also holds an MBA, is a member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers and Nigeria Institute of Management.

He currently directs the affairs of Afribank Nigeria Plc., one of the oldest commercial and investment banks in Nigeria. Since becoming the bank’s Chief Executive in 2006, he has adopted strategies geared towards building the bank’s profit capacity in the medium or long term and increasing its clientele base.