Scorecard, business ideas of Sterling Bank CEO Abubakar Suleiman

Scorecard, business ideas of Sterling Bank CEO Abubakar Suleiman

 

Sterling Bank Chief Executive Officer Abubakar Suleiman is very keen to make the bank he heads the industry’s reference point.

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It was gathered that the 47year old famous for his tenacity of purpose appears to have unlocked the formula to achieve this.

“He believes the way out is to help the customers to create wealth” societynow.ng gathered.

Information at hand revealed that the theme of the playbook of the Sterling Bank boss who took office in April 2018 is for the bank to either back customers’ businesses – based on a clear understanding of roles – for a fee or act as a partner for a stake.

It further gathered that this move is premised on the conviction that this approach soars the chances of the successes of such “bank backed’ entrepreneurial pursuits because customers need to make money for the bank to make investors happy with impressive revenue.

“The kind of expertise and financial power that would be deployed to aid targetted undertakings, it is like taking the chances of successes to near hundred percent” societynow.ng gathered.

Those who should know, however, revealed that in exploring the option of backing customers’ businesses, Sterling Bank under the guidance the man who held the dual positions of Executive Director, Retail Banking and Chief Financial Officer before he became Managing Director has targeted areas.

‘To get the CEO to sign off on getting the bank to support or partner any business, it must revolve around healthcare, education, agriculture, renewable energy, and transportation. The idea is that aside from making money for the initiators and the bank, these are the key non-oil sectors that would really impact the economy and hugely spread prosperity” 

Abubakar, a holder of Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Major Programs Management from Said Business School of the University of Oxford is said to have the “full confidence” of the board in making this ambitious move that among other things gave birth to the idea of a Holding Company for ease of operation.

The checks by societynow.ng revealed that the ‘charming bank chief” who has been a part of the top management decisions of Sterling Bank since 2003 when he joined as Group Treasurer has been gradually shifting the focus of the Bank from payment services – with heart gladdening results for investors – to risk underwriting and use of technology to make business decisions, especially loans since he became Chief Executive Officer in April 2018.

Records show that that under the watch of the member of professional associations such as the Institute of Directors, governing council of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, and Advisory Council of Lagos Business School, Sterling Bank’s digital offerings such as Specta, a digital lending platform for customers and non, self-explanatory – Social Lender and Alt-Mall, an e-commerce platform that allows for deferred payments and investment apps – Doubble and I-Invest are said to be thriving beyond expectations.