MOSES ADEDOYIN: Charting a new future

With a career spanning more than 33 years, Moses Adedoyin, managing director and chief executive officer of Chartered Bank, certainly ranks as one of the most experienced bankers in Nigeria country today. Since staring off with the African Continental Bank (ACB) in 1969, there has been no looking back for the sure-footed “Chartered Boss” who has bestridden the banking industry like a colossus.

From ACB, he moved over to the First National Bank of Chicago Nigeria Limited (now IMB International Bank) as one of the pioneer staff in 1975 where, by dint of hardwork, he rose to the position of manager in charge of Domestic Banking Group, leaving behind impressive imprints.

By 1986 he was seconded to Lion Bank as the general manager and chief operating officer under a  technical agreement between the bankand IMB. Like he did in other places he served, Adedoyin, a stickler for   ethics and  standards, succeeded in setting up an efficient operational system for the  bank before he again signed off to join the start-up executive management  team of Chartered Bank as deputy managing director. In that capacity, he headed various divisions and groups in the bank. It was in recognition of his outstanding performance that he was appointed managing director and chief executive of the bank, in April 2000.

So far, the bank has done very well under Adedoyin, a former president of the West Africa Bankers Association, WABA. Within two years, he has repositioned the bank on the path of phenomenal business expansion, as well as steady growth in asset, branch network and personnel.

He was able to achieve this by designing a new organisation strategy of decentralising decision-making. “We are now organised in teams to deliver  superior service to our  customers at all times,” Adedoyin told  shareholders at the bank’s  Annual General Meeting (AGM) recently, adding that “our  strategy is to grow  by gaining more of the  existing  market  and by developing new markets.

Keen followers of the bank agree that the team approach to decision-making has significantly increased the efficiency of service delivery. “We have assiduously employed the committee system to generate superior ways to do things, to decentralise and to communicate more quickly and effectively across the bank and clientele. The impact of this approach on service delivery, customer satisfaction and growth has been tremendous,” says Adedoyin who is also chairman of Integrated Capital Services Limited, an issuing house and investment company.

The efficacy of a decentralised decision-making is further helped by the   fact that the bank has strengthened its IT resources and has also enhanced automation in all areas. Investment in networking has made it possible for the bank to offer on-line one-stop banking services to customers from any location of the bank. All of these put together have significantly enhanced the quality of the services and sharpened the competitive edge of the bank.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the bank has continued to record impressive results. In the financial year ended March 2002, the bank recorded a 46 percent increase in gross revenues of N5.42 billion (against N3.71 billion in March, 2001). Profit- before-tax and profit-after-tax grew by 92.86 percent and 82.61 percent respectively, while the balance sheet of the bank grew by 38.33 percent from N23.87 billion in 2001 to N33.02 billion in 2002.

An obviously impressed chairman of the bank, Lt. Gen. Mohammed Wushishi  (rtd) commended the management and staff for making it possible for the bank to  record what he described as “a solid, progressive and sustainable achievement." This result is a “manifestation of dedication, hard work, creativity and commitment of our 597 employees who think and act like   owners,” he said at the recent AGM.

With a capital base of more than  N3 billion backed with total asset base of N33 billion and 34 branches  spread across 15 states of the federation including  Abuja, Chartered Bank  under Adedoyin aspires to remain  within the top 10  banks in the Nigerian financial system as a brand  equated with quality  and integrity.

Declared Adedoyin at the AGM, “We strongly believe that we are on the right track. We are alert and ever-seeking to regenerate our people and structures towards the attainment of superior targets consistently.”

Newswatch Special Feature, Friday, 15 November 2002