Ecobank has announced the appointment of Charles Kie, an Ivorian, as managing director designate of Ecobank Nigeria limited.

The appointment takes effect from 1 Jan 2016 ,  subject to the approval of the CBN and meet other regulatory requirements.

The statement said Kie was selected after a selection process which included internal and external candidates.

The bank said that until Kie’s appointment, he was the ETI’s group executive responsible for leading the bank’s corporate and investment banking business across 40 countries, 36 of which were in Africa.

“Charles Kie represents ETI on the Board of Directors of EBI.SA, the Ecobank subsidiary in France as well as Ecobank Development Corporation (EDC), the investment banking arm of the Ecobank Group.

“Kie joined Ecobank in October 2011 as Chief Operating Officer of the then Ecobank Capital and was subsequently appointed the Head of the Group’s Corporate Banking business.

“Between 2008 and 2011, Charles Kie was Group CEO of Groupe Banque Atlantique, based in Togo and Cote d’Ivoire.

“Groupe Banque Atlantique (now majority owned by Banque Centrale Populaire of Morocco) had operations in eight countries in West Africa and one in Central Africa as well as a representative Office in Paris (France).

“Kie also had a successful career with Citibank between 1997 and 2008, rising to the position of CEO of Citigroup West Africa between 2004 and 2008.

“Kie, a graduate of Ecole Superieure de Commerce d’Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire), has an MBA from the London School of Economics and an MSc from the University Of Clermont Ferrand France.

“He has attended the Harvard Business School – Advanced Management Programme.

“An Ivorian national, Kie is fluent in both English and French,” the statement said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Kie will succeed Mr Jibril Aku whose five-year tenure as Managing Director ends on Dec. 31