Unity Bank appoints Kolawole Ebenezer as Acting MD/CEO

Unity Bank Plc has named Kolawole Ebenezer as its new acting managing director and chief executive officer, following the retirement of Mrs. Oluwatomi Somefun, who has completed her tenure in the role.

The appointment was confirmed during the bank’s 18th Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in Lagos on Wednesday, after receiving the necessary approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Mr. Kolawole is a seasoned banker with over 30 years of experience in the financial 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 different departments, including operations and finance, rising to the role of Deputy Financial Controller.

He then moved to Standard Trust Bank (STB), where he contributed to key areas such as Operations, Regulatory Risk Management, and Finance. He also played a crucial role in the STB-UBA merger, after which he became the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of United Bank for Africa.

Mr. Kolawole also served as the Group Chief Finance Officer (GCFO) at Mainstreet Bank, where he was instrumental in driving the bank’s turnaround and transformation efforts. His career journey included a brief period at Globacom, one of Nigeria’s leading telecommunications firms, where he worked in corporate business development.

In 2015, he joined Unity Bank Plc as its Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and was later appointed as an Executive Director in February 2018. In this role, he oversaw the bank’s Finance, Operations, and Information Technology departments, playing a key role in strategic transformation and cost-saving initiatives that improved the bank’s overall performance.

As the new acting MD/CEO, Mr. Kolawole is tasked with completing Unity Bank’s ongoing corporate programs and advancing its strategic business initiatives.

He holds a First-Class Honours degree in Accounting from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife. He has also attended executive management programs at Columbia Business School in New York and The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, USA.

A respected professional, Mr. Kolawole is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA) and the Institute of Credit Administration (FICA).

He is also 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, among others.