US banking giant Citigroup has appointed Ade Ayeyemi to head its Johannesburg-based sub-Saharan Africa division, the company said on Tuesday.
Ayeyemi, a Nigerian, who has been with Citi for 25 years, takes over from Naveed Riaz.
Ayeyemi has held several positions with the bank in Nigeria and was head of Citi Transaction Services in Africa before taking up his current position, the bank said.
The bank’s chief executive for Europe, Middle East and Africa, Jim Cowles, said the appointment was significant as the company is currently focused on “capturing the opportunities that exist across the sub-Saharan region.”
Earlier in his career, Ayeyemi held the position of Senior Country Operations Officer in Kenya and Regional Operations Head for East Africa from 1999. He joined Citibank Nigeria in Trade Operations in 1988 after a stint in Unilever Nigeria firstly as a management trainee and subsequently, an officer in the Finance Division.
At Citi, Ade became the Treasury Operations Head, Applications Development Head and subsequently the Technology Head in 1993. In 1995 he was appointed Senior Branch Operations Officer responsible for 13 branches as well as Senior Officer in charge of Technology.
Ade is a graduate of the Advanced Management Program of the Harvard Business School. He graduated from the University of London with a MSC, Financial Management.
He is also a Chartered Accountant and has a Bachelor of Science (Accounting) with First Class Honors in 1985 from the University of Ife, Nigeria. He is a Citi Senior Credit Officer and also has interests in Business Strategy, Process Engineering and Technology. He is a trained UNIX Administrator and Network Operating Systems Manager.
An avid reader and lover of sports, he enjoys soccer, running, cycling and tennis.
Citi operates across the African region with a presence in 12 sub-Saharan countries including Nigeria, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Zambia, Uganda, Gabon, Cameroon, Senegal and Tanzania.