Dr Adesola Kazeem Adeduntan; FCIB, FCA – Chief Executive Officer, FirstBank Group
Dr Adesola Adeduntan is an accomplished professional with distinctive domestic and international experience in commercial and investment banking, development finance, audit, and consulting; a philanthropist and leader with a keen interest in providing platforms for the development of other young leaders.
He is the Chief Executive Officer of FirstBank Group, the commercial banking arm of FBN Holdings Plc, comprising FirstBank Nigeria and its subsidiaries including FirstBank UK (with its Representative Office in Paris), FirstBank DRC, FirstBank Gambia, FirstBank Sierra Leone, FBNBank Ghana, FBNBank Guinea, FBNBank Senegal and First Pension Custodian Nigeria Ltd, as well as FirstBank Representative Office in Beijing. He is overseeing one of the most extensive transformation programmes in the sub-Saharan African financial services industry, with the goal of repositing FirstBank Group to market pre-eminence. He is leading FirstBank on the journey to win the most significant emerging business opportunities in the financial services industry through the development and execution of a digital-led strategy that has established FirstBank as the dominant player in digital banking propositions. FirstBank Group’s transformation programme, under the leadership of Adesola, has enabled the Bank to achieve significant business expansion: grew customer accounts from about 10 million in 2015 to over 39.2 million (including digital wallets), became the second largest issuer of cards in Africa with over 12.1 million issued cards, onboarded more than 22 million active customers on digital banking platforms, initiated and built the most expansive bank-led Agent Banking Network in Africa with over 201,000 Agents.
Adesola is currently on the Boards of FBN Holdings Plc, FirstBank UK Ltd, Shared Agent Network Expansion Facilities Ltd (SANEF), and Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS). He is a past Executive Director and Chief Financial Officer of FirstBank Group. Prior to FirstBank, he was a Director and the pioneer CFO/Business Manager of Africa Finance Corporation (AFC). At AFC, he led the team that designed and executed the Corporation’s “International Credit Rating Strategy”, which culminated in the Corporation being assigned an A3 international credit rating by Moody’s, making it the second highest-rated lending entity in Africa. Adesola also served as a Senior Vice-President & CFO at Citibank Nigeria Limited, a Senior Manager in the Financial Services Group of KPMG Professional Services and a Manager at Arthur Andersen.
His career in banking and finance spanning almost three decades has earned him various recognitions and awards such as Forbes Best of Africa – Outstanding Leader in Africa; Distinguished Alumnus Award by both the School of Management, Cranfield University, UK and the University of Ibadan; African Banking Personality of the Year; African Banker of the Year Award and induction into the African Leadership Magazine (ALM) Hall of Fame and African Leadership Council; Honorary Citizenship of the State of Georgia and Congressional Commendation Award from the Georgia Senate – USA; Bank CEO of the Year by the AES Excellence Club, Banking Icon of the Decade Award by The Sun, and African Banking Leadership Legacy Award by the African Leadership Organization, amongst several others.
He holds a Doctor of Science, Honoris Causa and an MBA from Cranfield University, United Kingdom which he attended as a Chevening Scholar, and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM) awarded by the University of Ibadan. He has attended various executive and leadership programmes at Harvard Business School (USA), Wharton School (USA), London Business School (UK), IESE (Spain), University of Oxford (UK), University of Cambridge (UK), CEIBS (China) and INSEAD (France). He is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN).
A philanthropist per excellence, Adesola is a member of the Bretton Woods Committee – the nonpartisan network of prominent global citizens that works to demonstrate the value of international economic cooperation and foster strong, effective Bretton Woods institutions as forces for global well-being. He is also a member of Sigma Educational Foundation – focused on enhancing the quality of the tertiary education system in Nigeria, a member of the Steering Committee of the Private Sector Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) in Nigeria, a member of the Governing Council of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), a member of the Board of Lagos State Security Trust Fund; and he holds the traditional title of Apesinola of Ibadanland.
Adesola is happily married with children and loves music, especially African folk music.