Board of Directors

Jibril Aku has an expansive wealth of experience in the Banking and Financial services industry, spanning 34 years. His banking career has included key positions in specialized departments of capital markets, foreign exchange and treasury management. He was the Group Head of Strategy Management at Ecobank Transnational Incorporated in Lomé, Togo before retiring on December 2016.

Vivian is an innovative professional with more than 28 years of progressive management and marketing expertise in Education, Banking, Health, and General Financial services. She also has expertise in strategic planning, new business start-up, market plan execution, capital asset oversight, cost containment, budgeting/finance, customer service, staff training, supervision and mentoring, new product roll out, and targeted marketing.

Tony Onwu is an investment banker with over twenty years’ experience in the financial services industry spanning Corporate banking, market and price risk management and corporate finance. Most of his career was with Citibank N.A where he left as a Vice President in 2002 to lead the resuscitation and recapitalization of Liberty Bank as a Managing Director.

An acknowledged leader in asset and systems management, Winston Osuchukwu has over two decades of experience in investment banking, private equity, merchant banking and asset management garnered while working in the United States with Morgan Stanley, JP Morgan Chase, and Lehman Brothers, in Nigeria and across the African continent. He is a sought-after commentator among global business media outlets and a frequent participant in international business forums.

Ibrahim Oruma holds the Bachelor of Science, Management Studies and the Masters in Business Administration degrees. He is an Alumnus of IMD, Lausanne, Switzerland, and attended the prestigious Harvard Business School in the United States.

Barene Jankovich-Besan’s professional career spans 24 years, across a range of industries and multiple African countries. She spent 18 years (1998-2016) at Standard Bank Group where she introduced the digital portfolio. She was the Executive Head of Marketing for the retail bank in South Africa, Executive Head of Marketing for Stanbic IBTC Group in Nigeria, Executive Head, Cross-border projects, Executive Head, Regional Marketing, South and Central Africa and spent time in a regional role managing multiple countries in Africa.

Jesse Aku holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Mississippi, USA. Mr Aku has gained experience in Logistics Project Management, while he was employed at Telile LLC, Peachtree City, GA, USA, as part of a team in charge of re-branding SunTrust Bank, Nigeria in the transition from a specialized mortgage bank to a full commercial bank.