Arnold Onyekwere Ekpe (born August 1953) is a Nigerian banker and businessman who was the group chief executive of

Ecobank Ecobank, whose official name is Ecobank Transnational Inc. (ETI), is a pan-African banking conglomerate, with banking operations in 33 African countries. It is the leading independent regional banking group in West Africa and Central Africa, ...

, the

pan-African Pan-Africanism is a nationalist movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all indigenous peoples and diasporas of African ancestry. Based on a common goal dating back to the Atlantic slave trade, the Trans-Sa ...

bank with operations from Togo to Nigeria to

the DRC The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

from 2005 to 2012. As at June 11, 2025, He is the Chairman designate of Dangote Sugar refinery.

Early life

Ekpe was born in

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, and also lived in Cameroon. He graduated from

King's College, Lagos King's College, Lagos (KCL) is a secondary school in Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria. It was founded on 20 September 1909 with 10 students at Lagos Island, adjacent to Tafawa Balewa Square. The school admits only boys as pupils, although prior to ...

in 1972, earned a bachelor's degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...

at the

University of Manchester The University of Manchester is a public university, public research university in Manchester, England. The main campus is south of Manchester city centre, Manchester City Centre on Wilmslow Road, Oxford Road. The University of Manchester is c ...

, and followed up with an MBA from the

Manchester Business School Alliance Manchester Business School (Alliance MBS) is the business school of the University of Manchester in Manchester, England. It is one of the oldest business schools in the UK, and provides education to undergraduates, postgraduates and e ...

Career

Ekpe served as the group CEO of Ecobank from 1996 to 2001, and 2005 to 2012. Under his auspices, he oversaw the expansion of the bank across Africa and steered the company through the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.

. Prior to joining Ecobank, he was the vice-president of the West/Southern African corporate finance desk at

Citibank Citibank, N.A. ("N. A." stands for "National bank (United States), National Association"; stylized as citibank) is the primary U.S. banking subsidiary of Citigroup, a financial services multinational corporation, multinational corporation. Ci ...

. From 2002 to 2003 he was group CEO of

United Bank for Africa United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA) is a multinational pan-African financial services group headquartered in Lagos Island, Lagos and known as Africa’s Global Bank. It has subsidiaries in 20 African countries and offices in London, Paris and New ...

(UBA), and from 2003 to 2005 he was a partner with African Capital Alliance, a

private equity firm A private equity firm or private equity company (often described as a financial sponsor) is an investment management company that provides financial backing and makes investments in the private equity of a Startup company, startup or of an existin ...

. He was the honorary president of the Business Council for Africa, chairman of Safire

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

, and chairman at Atlas Mara, the investment management firm founded by former Barclays CEO, Bob Diamond, between December 2013 and December 2016. He is now senior adviser to Dangote Group and Equator Capital Partners (US). He is chairman of Micro Cred France, non-executive director of Crown Agents Bank (UK), Crown Agents Investment Management Ltd (UK), AVMS India, and Dangote Flour Mills Ltd. He is a trustee of Vision for a Nation, a global charity, and supports research at University of Manchester, his alma mater.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ekpe, Arnold Living people 21st-century Nigerian businesspeople Nigerian bankers Alumni of the University of Manchester Alumni of the Manchester Business School King's College, Lagos alumni 1953 births