Ecobank appoints new Kenya MD

Friday, May 24, 2013 — updated on December 15, 2020 - 2 min read

Outgoing Ecobank Kenya managing director Tony Okpanachi (right) speaks to journalists to announce the appointment of his successor, Ehouman Kassi Mr Kassi has worked for Ecobank Group for close to two decades and has also served as MD for Ecobank in Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal. Photo/COURTESY

Ecobank has hired a new chief executive as the lender seeks fresh ideas to capture a bigger portion of the Kenyan banking market.

The Togo-based lender has replaced Anthony Okpanachi, who has been managing director since 2008 with Ivorian Ehouman Kassi.

Mr Okpanachi moves to the bank’s Nigeria affiliate, the largest in terms of branches and revenue contribution to the Group.

The change in the mid-tier lender’s corner office comes after the bank posted a net loss of Sh1 billion last year, blamed on costly deposits.

READ: Ecobank suffers record Sh1bn loss on costly deposits

“In his double role as head of the bank’s East African cluster, Mr Kassi will be seeking to bolster its corporate and trade finance as well as its retail businesses in the region by riding the rising curve of intra-regional trade and the growing middle income consumer,” Ecobank Kenya said in a statement.

Before joining Ecobank Kenya, Mr Kassi was the group head, investment banking and managing director at Ecobank Development Corporation.

He holds a Masters in Finance from the University of Abidjan and University of Paris Val-de-Marne and has undergone an executive management programme at INSEAD Singapore; one of the world’s largest and most prestigious graduate business schools.

Mr Kassi joins Ecobank at a time when the parent company, Ecobank Transnational Inc has injected an additional capital of Sh2.1 billion to boost its lending capacity and roll out new branches countrywide.

READ: Ecobank to get Sh2bn injection from parent firm
The bank had made a net profit of Sh202.1 million in 2011, a two-thirds growth compared to Sh125.1 million a year earlier.

The pan-African bank entered the Kenyan market in mid-2008 when it acquired the loss-making East African Building Society (EABS). Ecobank then invested hundreds of millions of shillings clearing EABS' bad debts and opened more branches that has seen its footprint stand at the current 25 branches.