GHL Bank has appointed Mr. Albert Essien, former CEO of Ecobank, as its new board chairman.

He takes over from Mr. Jacob Kholi.

Mr. Essien is a seasoned banker who served as the Group CEO of Ecobank and was in charge of Corporate and Investment Banking as the Group Head for fourteen (14) years.

Mr. Essien commenced his banking career in 1986 with the National Investment Bank in Accra. He then joined the Corporate Banking Department of Ecobank Ghana in 1990.

Mr. Essien served as Country Risk Manager of Ecobank Ghana from 1997, Deputy Managing Director from 2001 and Managing Director from December 2002. He has worked extensively across the sub-region; serving as Director on the boards of Ecobank Ghana, Nigeria, Liberia, Gambia and Guinea (Conakry).

He was also responsible for Ecobank’s expansion into Eastern and Southern Africa comprising of Kenya, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Malawi as well as the Chief Representative of the South Africa Representative Office.

Mr. Essien also served as a Director on the board of EBI Paris, the Ecobank subsidiary in France.

Mr. Essien is an honorary fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, Ghana and holds a B.A. (Honors) in Economics from the University of Ghana. He is an alumnus of the Executive Development Program of INSEAD (France/Singapore) and a World Fellow of the Duke of Edinburgh Award.

Welcoming the Board Chairman, the CEO of GHL Bank, Mr. Dominic Adu, stated, “Mr. Essien has played a key role in our transformation process from a mortgage specialist to a universal bank. He brings on board a wealth of industry experience acquired over three decades in banking”.

GHL Bank, formerly Ghana Home Loans has obtained its banking license from the Bank of Ghana and it is set to commence banking operations by the end of this year.