Bank of Ghana ‘outdoors’ Felix Addo as NIB Advisor

The Bank of Ghana has named the immediate past Country Senior Partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ghana, Mr. Felix E. Addo as Advisor for National Investment Bank (NIB).

The central bank had early announced the appointment of an advisor for the without much detail of who the advisor was.

In a press release issued Friday however, the bank of Ghana details the career, experience and status of Mr Addo and assures depositors and customers of NIB that the bank remains open for business under the control of the bank’s own management, and that customers’ deposits are safe.

The central bank defines Mr. Addo’s role as “to help restructure NIB through governance and management reforms as well as streamlining its business model to help refocus it as a bank to industrialisation. He will stay in the bank until otherwise advised by the Bank of Ghana and will furnish the Bank of Ghana with a status report on the bank as frequently as the Bank of Ghana may require.

“It is important to note that an Advisor does not take over the powers, responsibilities, and duties of the bank’s shareholders, directors, or management. Under Act 930, the Advisor may attend meetings of the Board of Directors without voting at such meetings”, the BoG said.

Below is the full statement by the BoG

Appointment of advisor for National Investment Bank (NIB)

The Bank of Ghana per its press statement dated 4th January, 2019 indicated that an Advisor had been appointed for NIB to advise management of the bank with a view to helping improve the affairs of the bank. The purpose of this press release is to provide further particulars on the appointment.

Pursuant to section 101 (1) of the Banks and Specialised Deposit-Taking Institutions Act of 2016 (Act 930), the Bank of Ghana has appointed Mr. Felix E. Addo as Advisor to NIB.

Mr. Addo is the immediate past Country Senior Partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ghana and a former member of the PwC Africa Governance Board. Mr. Addo has more than 30 years of practice and consulting experience in restructuring and insolvency, corporate/project finance and recovery, financial and forensic auditing, arbitration, corporate governance, organisational restructuring and performance improvement engagements in both developed and developing economies.

He currently chairs the Board of Directors of Guinness Ghana Limited, and serves on other boards.

He is the president of the Ghana Association of Restructuring and Insolvency Advisors (GARIA) and belongs to other professional bodies including the Institute of Chartered Accountants (ICA), Ghana, and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).

Mr. Addo holds a B.Sc. (Hons) Administration from the University of Ghana, Legon and an MA in Professional Accounting from Loyola College of Maryland, USA. He was honoured with a D.Sc (h.c) in July 2018 by the University of Mines and Technology, Tarkwa.

He is expected to help restructure NIB through governance and management reforms as well as streamlining its business model to help refocus it as a bank to industrialisation. He will stay in the bank until otherwise advised by the Bank of Ghana and will furnish the Bank of Ghana with a status report on the bank as frequently as the Bank of Ghana may require.

It is important to note that an Advisor does not take over the powers, responsibilities, and duties of the bank’s shareholders, directors, or management. Under Act 930, the Advisor may attend meetings of the Board of Directors without voting at such meetings.

The Bank of Ghana takes this opportunity to assure depositors and customers of NIB that the bank remains open for business under the control of the bank’s own management, and that customers’ deposits are safe.

The Bank of Ghana remains committed to promoting a strong and resilient banking sector that retains the trust and confidence of the general public.