Business
Ecobank to lay off more staff, focuses more on digital platforms
Pan-African lender, Ecobank, has expressed its resolve to reduce its branches while strengthening its digital platforms to enhance its operations across the country.
Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Mr. Ade Ayeyemi disclosed this while speaking at the World Economic Forum for Africa in Durban, South Africa, recently.
Ayeyemi explained that the Ecobank plans to expand its mobile platforms in other to reduce the amount of manpower spent in banking hall, and also to cut costs in the overhead.
He said the bank intends to take advantage of latest technology to enhance its operation, and also assist in delivering profitability to the bank’s shareholders.
Ayeyemi, a former Citigroup executive in Africa, who took over at Ecobank in 2015, said the expansion into online platforms would lead to lay-offs.
The bank employs more than 17,000 people. He also said a recovery in oil prices in 2017, which would result in higher import revenues for African economies dependent on crude sales, was a positive policy for the bank.
Ecobank’s operations in nearly 40 countries across sub-Saharan Africa are exposed to some economies that have been pressured by the slide in commodity prices and unfavourable currency swings.
The bank, which counts South Africa’s Nedbank and Qatar National Bank as shareholders, suffered a hefty $131 million pre-tax loss in 2016.
The bank reported a pre-tax profit of $75 million in the first quarter of 2017 though that was still down 17 per cent from a year earlier due to high bad loan provisions. Nigeria accounts for 40 per cent of Ecobank’s revenues.