Ecobank’s Development Programmes are part of the Bank’s talent development strategy to continue to churn out excellently trained banking professionals at various levels of the industry to feed into her talent pipeline and the banking industry. They are founded on global best practice that prepare the candidates for banking careers in positions aligned with their potential, competencies and experience at the entry point of functional pre-managerial roles.
As part of this plan, 100 fresh graduates recently joined the Entry Level programme – a 2month training ground for fresh graduates to prepare them to join the Bank’s workforce at the entry point and rapidly gain experience to rise through the ranks. These graduates will be exposed to classroom training, action learning as well as valuable mentorship to quickly prepare them for full employment in the Bank.
In keeping with its talent development strategy, the first batch of 25 Graduate Trainees who recently passed out after 12 months of intensive capacity enhancement training have since been offered full employment with Ecobank Nigeria. Their training combines classroom, on–the-job, book reading and action learning models which provides the candidates with global exposure and ability to compete internationally.
In his comment during the graduation ceremony, the Managing Director, Ecobank Nigeria, Patrick Akinwuntan congratulated the graduands and encouraged them to keep their vision of getting to the top of their career. According to Mr Akinwuntan, the Trainee programme initiative is part of Ecobank’s transformation agenda to make the bank a most preferred financial institution in the country.
“This programme is our own way as a bank to invest in creating future leaders for the Nigerian banking industry. We are investing in the people to accomplish our vision both as a bank and a country. A key success factor of any bank is capital; and we must therefore train those who will be empowered to oversee this capital and put it to good use in the interest of depositors and investors. Staff of banks must be well trained and knowledgeable so that they can ensure that funds in the banks are effectively deployed. For us at Ecobank, we must also ensure that we deliver on our promise as a financial institution of choice not only in Nigeria, but the whole of Africa. We therefore take the development of adequately trained manpower as a “must do” in striving to achieve our goals”.
Mr Akinwuntan also stated that Ecobank deploys top notch technology and innovation which are the platforms needed to drive its vision to be a leader in the provision of financial services across Africa. In his words, “we provide full service banking right from the wholesale business to the small, medium scale and to individuals. To do this, we’ve built technology services that enable us deliver our services in a convenient, accessible and reliable manner. This is affordable and sustainable to our customers, while also ensuring good returns to our shareholders”.