Ebenezer Kolawole leads Unity Bank

Unity Bank Plc has appointed Mr. Ebenezer Kolawole (FCA) as its Acting Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer following the retirement of Mrs. Oluwatomi Somefun, who has completed her tenure as the bank’s MD/CEO. The announcement was made during the bank’s 18th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Lagos , after securing approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Mr. Kolawole brings over three decades of extensive experience in the banking and financial services sector. His career began in 1992 at Caribbean Finance Limited in Kaduna, an affiliate of CFL in the Cayman Islands. He later joined Ecobank, where he worked across multiple departments, including Operations and Finance, eventually becoming Deputy Financial Controller.

He subsequently moved to Standard Trust Bank (STB), where he played a key role in Operations, Regulatory Risk Management, and Finance. Notably, he was instrumental in facilitating the STB/UBA merger, after which he became the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) at United Bank for Africa (UBA). His career trajectory also includes a tenure at Mainstreet Bank as the Group Chief Finance Officer (GCFO), where he led turnaround and transformation initiatives. Additionally, he had a brief stint at Globacom, Nigeria’s leading indigenous telecommunications company, where he contributed to corporate business development.

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Mr. Kolawole joined Unity Bank Plc in 2015 as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and was appointed Executive Director in February 2018, overseeing Finance, Operations, and Information Technology. During this time, he played a pivotal role in the bank’s strategic transformation and cost optimization efforts, which significantly improved its performance and market position.

As Acting Managing Director/CEO, Mr. Kolawole is responsible for finalizing the bank’s ongoing corporate programmes and advancing strategic business initiatives in accordance with Unity Bank’s succession and business continuity plans.

He holds a First-Class Honours Degree in Accounting from Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, and has completed executive education programs at Columbia Business School in New York and The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, USA.

A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA), Mr. Kolawole is also a Fellow of the Institute of Credit Administration (FICA), an Honorary Member of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (HCIB), an Associate Member of the Nigerian Institute of Management (AMNIM), and a Member of the Institute of Directors.