Chief Executive Officer of Databank, Keli Gadzekpo will step down from office in May to take up the role of CEO at Enterprise Group. In a process led by Databank chairman, Ken Ofori Atta, Chief Operating Officer of Ghana Commercial Bank; Kojo Addae- Mensah has been named successor.
In an interview with media, Keli said he was leaving to pursue other challenges.
Commenting on the appointment, Keli said, “in Kojo Addae-Mensah we have found all the characteristics that we identified in our CEO succession planning to ensure Databank has the right leadership as it moves into a new phase…”
Kojo Addae- Mensah, who worked at the bank revealed how excited he was about the appointment: “The Databank brand is iconic, Ghanaian, entrepreneurial, has a can-do spirit, is respected for its values, tested and robust and I am very humbled to be asked to lead this firm. We are witnessing a rapid evolution of financial services on the continent, which makes it an exciting and testing time to be setting strategy to consolidate our dominance in our asset management business.
Chairman of Databank, Ken Ofori Atta also praised Kojo, saying he [Kojo] was “home-grown Ghanaian leadership talent with an unmatched professional pedigree” who shares their leadership values.
In the last four years, Kojo has served on the board of Databank’s Balanced Fund and is also a member of the extended Databank leadership team.
Keli has been a serving board member of Enterprise Group for 16 years and was Chairman of the Boards of Enterprise Properties and Enterprise Insurance. This new role will be an opportunity for him to shift from stewardship and overseeing governance as a Director to leading the company at an exciting time in its 90year history.
Ken Ofori Atta and Keli Gadzekpo will however remain on the Board of Databank with Ken as Chairman and Keli as Non-Executive Director.
With its headquarters in Ghana and presence in Liberia and the Gambia, Databank was one of the first investment banks to emerge from West Africa; and is now Ghana’s leading asset management firm. The bank, which was co-founded by Ken Ofori Atta and Keli Gadzekpo provides corporate finance advisory, stock brokerage, fund management, private equity and research services to a global client base.