Standard Chartered appoints Dalu Ajene as CEO Africa

Standard Chartered has appointed Dalu Ajene as the Chief Executive Officer of the Bank’s operations in Africa with dual responsibilities as the head of Coverage for Africa.

Until this appointment, Dalu was the CEO of Standard Chartered Nigeria; a role he assumed in April 2024. Under his leadership, he is credited with leading the Bank to achieve strong year on year financial performance including meeting the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) recapitalisation requirement of N200 billion for national commercial banks ahead of the March 2026 deadline.

Before joining Standard Chartered, he was the CEO of Rand Merchant Bank Nigeria. The appointment of Dalu, who has over 25 years’ experience in the global financial services sector, is a testament to the Bank’s established culture of promoting excellence and assurance of its esteemed stakeholders in the Nigerian financial industry.

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Speaking on his appointment, Dalu said, “Having had the privilege of leading Standard Chartered Nigeria over the past two years, I am deeply honoured to now take on broader responsibilities across Africa. This transition reflects the strength of our franchise, the resilience of our teams, and the impact we have delivered in a period of significant change and development. Across the region, Standard Chartered remains a key partner in trade finance, structured solutions, and development finance, leveraging technology to deliver client-centric services anchored on trust. I look forward to working closely with our experienced teams across Africa to accelerate growth across our Corporate & Investment Banking and Wealth & Retail businesses, mobilise catalytic capital, and create sustainable value for our clients, stakeholders, and the communities we serve.”

Dalu holds a Bachelors’ Degree in Economics from Dartmouth college and an MBA from Harvard Business School and is reputed as a leader passionate about driving a culture of high- performance centered around people empowerment to deliver best in class service to clients and robust financial outcomes for stakeholders.

Dalu takes over from Kariuki Ngari who served as CEO, Africa and Sarmad Lone’s Africa Coverage portfolio.

Hope Moses-Ashike

Hope Moses-Ashike is an Associate Editor, Banking and Finance, with more than a decade of experience reporting on Nigeria’s financial system and broader economy. She closely tracks market movements, monetary policy decisions, company disclosures, regulatory actions, economic indicators, and global developments, and interprets what they mean for businesses, investors, policymakers, and households. Her reporting helps readers understand complex issues such as inflation trends, foreign exchange market dynamics, interest rate decisions, bank performance, and investment risks. She also covers major international events and periodically travels to Washington, D.C., to report on the World Bank/IMF Spring and Annual Meetings. Her dedication to financial journalism has earned her multiple recognitions and invitations to high-level professional development programmes. She is an alumna of the International Visitors Leadership Programme (IVLP) in the United States and holds an Advanced Financial Journalism Certificate from the Press Association Training in London, UK. Her other notable achievements include completing the Lagos Business School CMC Programme, the Bloomberg Media Africa Initiative Programme, and a Master Class in Journalism at Rhodes University in South Africa.