Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), parent company of the Ecobank Group, has announced the departure from the group of Deputy Chief Executive Officer Eveline Tall Daouda, who proceeds on early retirement on January 31, 2017.

Group CEO Ade Ayeyemi, described Eveline Tall Daouda as “a stellar professional who has built a reputation as an outstanding banker and influential leader.

Throughout her career, Eveline has been nothing short of the quintessential banker – one whose savvy and experience has helped grow our institution to the pan-African banking leader we are today. She has developed coached and mentored many staff, some of whom now occupy senior leadership positions across the Ecobank Group. She has contributed in no small measure to the development of human capital, actualising a key purpose of Ecobank, which is to build pan-African professionals who are true models to emulate.”

Eveline Tall Daouda has received wide recognition as an eminent African professional. In 2013, Jeune Afrique magazine recognised her as one of the 25 most influential women in business in Africa.

In 2014 and 2015, Forbes Africa nominated her as one of the top 100 most influential women in Africa.

The following year, Jeune Afrique again acknowledged her as one of the 50 most influential women on the continent. And in 2016, the magazine again identified her as one of the top 50 most influential women on the continent. As a graduate of English with a diploma in Business Management and Administration, Eveline Tall Daouda began her banking career with Citibank, working with that organisation for 17 years before joining Ecobank in 1998. Since then, she has played a pivotal leadership role in Ecobank’s evolution.

She successfully opened Ecobank Mali as deputy managing director in 1998 and in 2000 became its managing director, making her the first female managing director of a banking affiliate in the Ecobank Group. She then went on to overhaul operations in Ecobank Senegal, which she managed for five years, later becoming regional director for the UEMOA zone and successfully consolidating the bank’s position across the region.

It is to her credit that Ecobank’s West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) zone affiliates remain on a consolidated base and a number one position throughout the region till today.

As chief operating officer (COO) Eveline managed the expansion of the Ecobank Group from 2010 to 2016. In 2011, she was also appointed deputy group CEO. Her management of the company’s expansion involved, in part, consolidating acquisitions in some target countries like Zimbabwe and Mozambique and ensuring their successful integration into the Ecobank Group. She also obtained banking licences and successful openings for Ecobank Equatorial Guinea and Ecobank South Sudan, as well as a representational office in Ethiopia.

By the end of her stewardship as COO in early 2016, the total balance sheet for the 33 Ecobank banking affiliates in Africa that Eveline Tall Daouda supervised stood at over 20 billion US dollars. As COO, Eveline successfully managed crises for affiliates during politically turbulent periods in Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo and the Central African Republic. Her leadership ensured business continuity, maximum protection for Ecobank employees and minimal impact for the bank during these crises.

Eveline Tall Daouda, in her last role in the Ecobank Group as deputy CEO and chief regulatory officer, established the function responsible for protecting the Ecobank Group’s franchise and a high level regulatory relationship management. Eveline brought her vast experience in banking and governance to bear on several Ecobank affiliate boards. She represented ETI as the major shareholder on the boards of the eight countries of UEMOA and Cape Verde from 2005 to 2010 and on the boards of Ecobank Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Ghana, Cameroun and Zimbabwe from 2010 to 2016.

In an internal communication to staff, Ade Ayeyemi said: “After a successful career, Eveline is leaving the Ecobank Group to pursue, among other things, her lifetime passion of developing, inspiring and empowering African women. She will apply her vast experience to deepen the advocacy for women entrepreneurs. “We owe Eveline an immense debt of gratitude for everything she has given to Ecobank over the years. She has valiantly served this organisation and her continent, and she will always stand out among the amazing professionals who have come through the doors of our institution,” Mr. Ayeyemi said.

About the Ecobank Group

Incorporated in Lome?, Togo, in 1988 Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (‘ETI’) the parent company of Ecobank is the leading independent pan-African banking group. It currently has a presence in 36 African countries, namely: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Democratic Republic), Co?te d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. The Group employs over 20,000 people in 40 different countries in over 1,200 branches and offices. Ecobank is a full-service bank providing wholesale, retail, investment and transaction banking services and products to governments, financial institutions, multinationals, international organizations, medium, small and micro businesses and individuals.