No Basis for Calls Against NIB MD’s Appointment – Banking Expert, Think Tank Assert

A famous banking consultant, Dr. Richmond Atuahene, says calls for the removal of Tweneboah Kodua Fokuo as Managing Director of the National Investment Bank (NIB) are without basis.

Reacting to the NDC Minority’s ultimatum to the government that by Friday it should revoke the appointment of Mr. Fokuo, who is also the NPP Parliamentary Candidate for Manso Nlwanta in the Ashanti Region, Mr Atuahene said the minority was peddling empty arguments.

The Minority insists a person with divided attention cannot be appointed to head a struggling bank.

But Dr. Richmond Atuahene says once the person in question has met all the criteria set to head a bank, the call for his removal is not justified.

Think Tank:
Similarly, the Economic Focused Group (EFG), an intellectual Think Tank has described the appointment of Mr Tweneboah Kodua Fokuo as the new Managing Director of the National Investment Bank (NIB) as forward-looking.

In an interview, the spokesperson for the group, Dr Baba Alhassan, said the decision by the bank to appoint its former Deputy Managing Director to become the substantive MD was commendable and appropriate.

He said that apart from fulfilling good corporate and banking practices, the elevation of Mr Kodua Fokuo was a a testament that good service comes with a good reward.

“It is surprising that in Ghana, people attach politics to public appointments even when the person displays competence and intelligence to discharge his or her duties. So for our group, we are happy that the NIB has chosen its former Deputy MD as substantive MD because he is highly competent,” the spokesperson noted.

Rebuttal:
The Think Tank was reacting to accusations from certain quarters that Mr Tweneboah Kodua Fokuo had gotten the appointment because he has leanings with the NPP.

The spokesperson said nothing in the Ghanaian Constitution prohibits Mr Fokuo from holding his current position, having been elected Manso Nkwanta Parliamentary Candidate for the NPP.

Dr Alhassan stressed that the President of the Republic has therefore done nothing wrong by his appointment, adding that many people in both the NPP and NDC previously held public positions before their subsequent appointments and did not flout any law.

Background
The group noted that, by virtue of the work Mr Fokuo had done in the financial and banking sectors, he was qualified to be head of NIB.

Dr Baba Alhassan said the group since 2019 had followed the exploits of Mr Fokuo, and it was not surprising that he was found worthy to become substantive MD.

The spokesperson said, having undertaken banking at a high level since 2008 and rising from ranks as risk manager and Risk Management Control Champion at banks such as First National Bank and ABSA Bank, Mr Fokua had charted a good path to lead.

“We are very sure that at a time Ghana’s financial sector was fragile, a competent and risk control expert like Mr Tweneboah Kodua Fokuo is allowed to bring his competencies to bear at NIB”, the spokesperson stated.

Profile of New NIB MD:
Joining NIB Plc in 2019, Mr Fokuo was in charge of the Early Risk Management (ERM) Department.

He supervised the implementation of this ERM which reshaped the company and enhanced the pace of the bank’s transformational agenda.

Prior to his appointment at NIB, Mr Fokuo was the Head of Credit Risk Management Officer at the First National Bank, a subsidiary of the FirstRand Bank in South Africa.

Between 2008 and 2016, Mr Tweneboah Kodua Fokuo worked at Barclays Bank, Ghana which is now ABSA Bank, and rose through the ranks to become Senior Risk Control Manager and Country Risk Champion.

Mr Fokuo is Board chairman of Nexans Ghana Group and a board member at the State Housing Company Limited (SHCL).

He holds a bachelor of science in Natural Resources Management from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and an MBA in Finance from the University of Wales.

Mr Fokuo also holds an advanced certificate from the Commercial Risk Certificate from the IFS School of Finance, United Kingdom.

Source: Ghana/otecfmghana.com/Francis Appiah