Barclays Bank of Ghana has announced the appointment of Mrs Abena Osei-Poku by the Board of Directors, as Managing Director of the Bank.

She takes over from Patience Akyianu who will be leaving the bank at the end of September this year.

Mrs Osei-Poku appointment if approved by the Bank of Ghana, will be effective October 1, 2018 and she will over the coming months work closely with Patience to ensure a smooth transition and handover process.

A statement said the appointment reflected the strength of ‘our leadership talent pool across businesses, which has enabled us to promote from within existing ranks.’

Until now, Mrs Osei-Poku has served as Head of Coverage North for our Corporate and Investment Banking business, Rest of Africa.

She was appointed to this role in early 2017 and has been covering the CIB cluster markets of Kenya, Tanzania (NBC and BBT), Uganda and Ghana.

She brings to this role over 15 years of Pan-African experience in banking gained across several regions, including West, Central and East Africa.

She previously served as Corporate Director at Barclays Bank Ghana with oversight responsibility for Barclays Bank Uganda. She has been credited with the turnaround of the Corporate Banking business in Barclays Ghana.

Mrs Osei-Poku experience includes origination and structuring of corporate and investment banking deals, client coverage, risk management, strategy and implementation, talent development and change management.

Her work has been acknowledged through numerous awards including Best Corporate Bank in Ghana in 2015, Best Cash Management business in Ghana, Best GDO business in Uganda and Best Corporate Bank in Kenya, 2017.

She joined Barclays Bank from Standard Chartered Bank in 2010, where she held various senior roles, including regional responsibility in Risk Management for West and Central Africa and Director, Global Corporates Ghana.

Mrs Osei-Poku has extensive board experience, having previously sat on the Boards of Barclays Bank Ghana and the Board of Airtel Mobile Money.

She is currently a Non-Executive Director on the Board of the United Kingdom and Ghana Chamber of Commerce. She holds an MBA from the Manchester Business School (United Kingdom).