Kie: No Bank Can Survive Without Innovation

The Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria Limited, Mr. Charles Kie has stressed that no bank can survive without innovation.

Kie, said this while listing six key success factors any financial institution requires to remain in business, at the commencement of Ecobank Graduate and Development Programme in Lagos yesterday.

According to the Ecobank boss, any bank that keeps doing the same thing the way it did it years back would not be able to meet up with competition.

He listed capital as the first thing any bank must have.

Kie noted that those empowered to oversee the capital have to be well trained and knowledgeable so that they can ensure that funds in the bank are effectively deployed, saying that otherwise the bank may go down.

“Secondly, you need a good technology. Without technology, there is no way you can run a bank. “Thirdly, you need extremely good control. Without proper control, all the sales, revenue and profit that you make can also disappear.

“Fourthly, we need talent -the brightest, the best skills and the most knowledgeable. That was why we spent so much time to make sure you get properly equipped, in order to develop to the talents that we need.

“Today, fintechs are playing key roles in bringing innovation into the financial services sector. But we also need to be innovative. Finally, we need a strong culture. You must imbibe some of the values we have defined for ourselves as Ecobank Nigeria.”

On his part, the Group Head, Human Resources, Ecobank Nigeria, Yves Mayilamene, said to build a bank for the future, the key success factor is the people.

According to him, “If you have the people with the required skills, they are the ones that would take the bank where it should go. The key investment is not about capital and not about the building, but your people.”

He described the graduate trainee programme by the bank as an investment in the future generation of Ecobank.

“We are grooming our pipeline of the future leadership of this bank. They are only 60 of them that were selected out of over 20,000 applicants. “So, what I am expecting from them is that by the time they get out of the programme, they should be world class bankers who can fit into any financial where Ecobank is present,” he added.