[ 2015-05-09 ]

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).

Source - Joy News

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