An evening of commendation as Stanbic IBTC honours Sola David-Borha

It was a night of fun, excitement and camaraderie laced with pleasant activities and a display of hidden talents and skills by bankers and their guests. It was the send-off dinner organised by Stanbic IBTC at the Eko Hotels and Suites in Lagos in honour of erstwhile Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, Sola David-Borha, who recently resigned from the financial institution to take up an even bigger responsibility within the parent company as Chief Executive, Standard Bank, Rest of Africa.

It is not often that one sees bankers let their hair down and forget, for a moment, deposits, withdrawals, loans, BTAs, PTAs and all those figures that need to balance under debit and credit columns. But that Monday night of 20 February was one of such days. It was indeed quite refreshing to see Chairman of Stanbic IBTC, Atedo Peterside, dish out hilarious anecdotes about David-Borha’s early days in the financial institution. That helped to spice up an already interesting evening, a performance Ali Baba or Basketmouth would have been proud of. Or Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Trustees, Binta Max-Gbinije’s adroit display as the compere which added colour to the event. She certainly won’t need to look far for another career prospect, if ever she calls time on her banking job. Then came the dancing after dinner. While Chief Executive of the Bank, Demola Sogunle, unleashed a few dancing moves, the new Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Holdings, Yinka Sanni, showed he could well mix things up. Atedo, Sola, Yinka, Demola and their spouses as well as the Chief Executive of Stanbic IBTC Asset Management, Bunmi Dayo-Olagunju, and a few guests rocked to evergreen songs by Victor Uwaifo and other Nigerian greats.

These were some of the highlights that made the send-off an exciting affair. And to think bankers are supposed to be dour and uninspiring. The send-off was certainly well deserved and a testament to the impact, professionally and personally, David-Borha had on Stanbic IBTC, its employees and clients under her watch as chief executive. It was indeed a well-earned honour for Sola, who had spent over 25 years in the financial institution.

The main event, which commenced at 6pm, attracted a coterie of Sola’s industry associates, colleagues, friends, partners, family and clients of Stanbic IBTC. Preceding that was a cocktail on the balcony of the SKY Restaurant, where guests mingled and shared experiences from as early as 5pm as the gentle and cool early evening breeze from the Atlantic Ocean caressed their faces, making for a relaxed and refreshing atmosphere. Guests had a ball on the blue carpet as three cameramen were on hand to capture the moment for posterity. Selfies too made their usual presence felt. Even the elderly would not be outdone. Mama Adegoroye, Sola David-Borha’s mum, at some point during the evening whipped out her phone and took a selfie with her daughter Sola, her grandson and the son inlaw.   

Binta kick-started the event by calling for prayers, which was taken by Paster Idowu Iluyomade, after which Atedo was called upon to offer testimonial about Sola. This set the tone for the rest of the evening. To help put in perspective the persona of Sola, Atedo played a short video clip by CEO/President of PepsiCo, Indra Krishnamurthy Nooyi, on the five (5) essential leadership character traits needed for success in business and in life, the five Cs of Communication, Competence, Courage, Confidence and Compass (integrity). Atedo said Sola possesses these traits in abundance. He said he was particularly impressed with her communication skills, competence and integrity.

Indeed, her leadership skills have helped transform the Stanbic IBTC brand to what it is today. A bellwether of innovation, Stanbic IBTC, under Sola’s watch, experienced some positive transformational changes and developed competencies in other segments of the financial services industry, like in retail and personal banking, outside its well-honed competencies in investment banking and wealth management. Sola oversaw the successful implementation of the Holding Company (Holdco) structure, where Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc oversees the 10 subsidiaries under the Holdco: Stanbic IBTC Bank, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, Stanbic IBTC Asset Management, Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers, Stanbic IBTC Trustees, Stanbic IBTC Capital, Stanbic IBTC Nominees, Stanbic IBTC Investments, Stanbic IBTC Ventures and Stanbic IBTC Insurance Brokers.

A peek at the financial results over the past few years also showed a consistently impressive performance. Many of the subsidiaries have become market leaders and continue to show strong performances. Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, for instance, grew to become the largest pension fund manager in Nigeria and consolidated this leadership under Sola’s watch, with asset under management in excess of N1 trillion and over one million retirement savings account holders signed on. Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers won the Nigerian Stock Exchange CEO Award for three consecutive years to 2016 for its strong performances in trading at the exchange in volume and value terms.

Atedo thanked Sola for her services and wished her well in her new role even as he introduced to the audience Yinka and Demola, who would be overseeing the next phase of growth of Stanbic IBTC as chief executives of the holding company and the bank, respectively. Yinka was effusive with praises for the important role Sola played in his development as a banker. He said having worked with her for several years, he learnt, among other qualities, hard work, focus, dedication and professionalism, qualities that have helped his career growth. Binta talked about her first encounter with Sola and how that left a lasting positive impression on her and helped her develop the right attitude to her job. Sola was thereafter presented with gifts in a show of appreciation for her invaluable service to and elevation of the Stanbic IBTC brand. Bunmi, Yinka and Atedo presented her with the gifts.

Sola said she was overwhelmed to be honoured, and particularly to see so many clients show up. She thanked the chairman and others for their kind words and her former colleagues for their cooperation, without which she could have failed. She thanked the clients, who have remained loyal to the Stanbic IBTC brand over the years and whose repeat businesses have helped to grow the financial institution into one of the leading companies in the country and the number one financial services supermarket. She said the support from her family was the source of strength that kept her going, even in challenging times. She equally thanked Standard Bank for the opportunity of the new challenge even as she assured Stanbic IBTC of her continued support for the brand in her new role. She said her joy was that she is leaving the company in capable hands and expressed the conviction that the new management team will consolidate on the company’s market leadership and growth. Sola David-Borha, thus, called upon clients and her former colleagues to extend the same support to the new management team led by Yinka Sanni.

No doubt, the financial institution will enjoy greater success with the new management. Yinka Sanni and Demola Sogunle have a combined experience of over 50 years between them. They both have a wealth of knowledge about the different segments of the business having worked in various units as they rose through the ranks, from wealth management, pensions, corporate and investment banking to treasury, retail banking and risk management, among others. Their expertise coupled with an experienced and dedicated workforce behind them would certainly help to serve the customer better. In a recent interview, Demola, while outlining the growth strategy for the company, explained how the bank will fully embrace digitisation to serve customers faster and better. 

In recognition of Stanbic IBTC’s strong corporate governance practices, strong liquidity position, highly trained workforce and adoption of technology to drive its processes, Fitch Ratings recently reaffirmed the triple A national ratings of the bank and its holding company. What the ratings simply means is that Stanbic IBTC is a strong financial institution that is not likely to collapse any time soon.  

Yinka Sanni capped the evening off with a vote of thanks to those present and wished Sola David-Borha success in her new role. Then came the dance, and it was clear that the daily crunching of numbers has not dulled the bankers’ dancing abilities. Music was provided by a Zeegrove Musical Band and it was enthralling.

The event, which attracted the crème de la crème of finance and business, had in attendance the Commissioner for Commerce and Industry in Ogun State, Otunba Bimbo Ashiru, who was a member of the Stanbic IBTC family before he moved into politics; co-founder of GT Bank and art connoisseur, Fola Adeola; Mr. David-Borha, Sola’s husband; Managing Partner, Purple Capital, developers of the Maryland Mall; the Chief Financial Officer of UAC, Abdul Bello; the Consul General of Germany in Lagos, Ingo Herbert; Deputy Managing Director of Zenith Bank, Ebenezer Onyeagwu; and Deputy Group Managing Director of Coscharis Group, Okey Nwuke; among others. It was indeed a worthy send-off for a worthy member of the family from a worthy financial institution.