profile
An African
financial engineer
Ebenezer Essoka has big plans for Africa and for Standard Chartered
B
ow-tie clad Ebenezer Essoka has a nuance, detailed
knowledge of the continent whose banking system
he has helped to transform for almost three decades.
Apart from being the Chief Executive of Standard
Chartered Bank South Africa, ‘I’ve been at the centre
of commercial activities in Africa for a very long time, [having]
started businesses, closed businesses, restructured businesses
that were in a terminal state of decline, and repositioned many
companies for sustainable growth,’ says the confident, proudly
immodest Essoka, who, before joining Standard Chartered South
Africa, held executive positions in eight of the bank’s African
operations through time. He wants to be
remembered as one of the “African financial
engineers” who will construct a metaphorical
super highway to link and consolidate the
economic strength and potential of Africa’s
54 countries and one billion people.
Essoka has brought this pan-Africanist
stance to Standard Chartered South Africa and
is emphatic that South African companies can
use the bank’s extensive networks, connections
and knowledge to successfully expand into
Africa. But first, the rest of Africa needs to see
the worth of a South African presence. ‘It is part
of my job to promote South Africa as a reliable
and trustworthy partner to the rest of Africa,’ he says. ‘In working
with diverse business leaders and governments across the region, I
have noticed there is a distinct gap in the continent’s understanding
of the role South African business plays, and the potential role it
can play in supporting and contributing to the continent’s collective
prosperity.’
Essoka, or “Ebby”, as he is known to his colleagues, adds that
South Africa is certainly taking