Mr. Prince Kofi Amoabeng, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and co-founder of the UT Group of companies on Tuesday officially announced his retirement.
Mr. Amoabeng’s retirement takes effect at the end of December 31, and would be succeeded by Mr Stephen Antwi-Asimeng, the current Chief Operating Officer of UT Bank, subject to the approval by the Bank of Ghana.
Mr. Amoabeng at a news conference to announce his retirement said UT Bank started 18 years ago, with the believe in systems, institutions and processes and it now the time for him to bow out at 63 years when the company has been well positioned on the global market.
He said together with his partner, Mr. Joseph Nsonamoah, they started the bank as a non-bank financial institution in 1997 and have successfully transformed it into a universal bank focusing mainly on small and medium enterprises.
Mr. Amoabeng said: “As I exit we have a great team which I believe in and am ready to leave the affairs of the bank for them to do a dispassionate job of running the bank and deliver quality services.”
He said he was leaving to serve as an example to others, adding: “We build companies for humanity and not for ourselves, so that when we are out, the good work and story still continues.”
He noted that his retirement was not instigated by anybody or pressure from anyone but he willingly chose to retire to pave the way for others to also manage the bank after 18 years of heading it.
Mr. Amoabeng however reiterated that he still remains the President of the UT Group of companies.
He said Mr Antwi-Asimeng, the new CEO, leads a new team of experienced industry professionals who have been recruited by the bank recently, and expressed confidence in them saying they are focused on achieving the objectives of the turnaround plan.
He said the bank over the last couple of years experienced some challenges but a turnaround plan was instituted and has already shown some positive results.
Mr. Antwi-Asimeng brings on board solid professional experience in banking and finance, investment, management and leadership.
The outgoing CEO said the turnaround plan has several elements that include loan recovery, deposit mobilization, improved risk management, additional capital injection and aggressive cost reduction.
“Our overall goal is to apply the vulnerable lessons we have learned as an SME-Focused bank to continue to serve our core market, the SME’s and the individual customer.
The bank will continue to develop and introduce new products and services for SME’s and position itself as the go-to SME retail bank,” he added.
Mr. Antwi-Asimeng said his team has been given a duty to support and they would endeavour to make it a success, saying they would ensure the bank continues to contribute to the economy of the country.
He said: “We are a team poised to take the bank to the next height and I am excited to lead the team at this time with excellent and transparent leadership format.”
Mr Antwi-Asimeng said he is excited to take over the bank and gave the assurance that product development would be the order of the day with excellent customer service during his period in office.