Ghanaian MD of Ecobank Kenya Retires after 29 Years

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, the Lomé-based parent company of the Ecobank Group has announced the retirement of Samuel Ashitey Adjei, MD of Ecobank Kenya and Regional Executive of Central, Eastern and Southern Africa (CESA).

The retired MD is to be succeeded, subject to regulatory approval, by Cheick Travaly, who is currently the Regional Chief Operating Officer for CESA.

Mr. Ashitey Adjei joined Ecobank in 1990 and has since held several leadership positions including Deputy Managing Director (DMD), Executive Director with oversight responsibility for the Corporate and Treasury Group of the Bank and Acting Managing Director of Ecobank Liberia. He also served as Head of Corporate Banking & Treasury.

His most recent and last position was as MD of Ecobank Kenya, which he held since February 16, 2016. Before that he served as the Managing Director at Ecobank Ghana Limited from 2006 to 2016.

Group CEO of Ecobank, Ade Ayeyemi, expressed his gratitude to Mr. Adjei for his outstanding service and contribution throughout his time at Ecobank.

“Sam’s impactful performance, dedication and commitment have been apparent to all during his almost three decades with Ecobank. He has been instrumental in building Ecobank Ghana into the most profitable affiliate in the Group and the leading bank in Ghana during his ten years as its Managing Director, and the financial condition of CESA has improved markedly under his stewardship in recent years, with its profit before tax increasing by 79% to US$111 million in 2018. On behalf of the Ecobank Group and Board I want to wholeheartedly thank him and wish him all the best in his retirement.”

Samuel Ashitey Adjei said concerning the bank and his time spent there; “It has been a real honour to have played a role in the development and growth of Ecobank in its journey to bring economic development and integration to middle Africa. I have long regarded Ecobank’s digital strategy as a masterstroke driving transformational change for millions of Africans by seamlessly serving them with innovative and constantly evolving products and services. Even though I am retiring, I will always follow Ecobank’s progress with interest and I have every confidence that it will continue to reach new heights as it drives beneficial change across Africa.”

Cheick Travaly has 28 years of professional experience, the last 14 of which have been spent as a Banking Executive serving six different countries. He holds two Master’s degrees, one in Business Administration and another in Economics.

Mr. Travaly began his career in the mining sector in Guinea, before making a permanent move into the banking industry. One of his early roles was as a Local Corporate Manager for Citibank Senegal, however, he has been employed at Ecobank since 2015 when he took the role of Corporate Bank Head at Ecobank Senegal.