Ignace MABANZA METI, Co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Directors, Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.

ABOUT Ignace MABANZA METI

Meti has had a rich professional career focused on results. For more than 35 years, he has acquired extensive experience in governance, management, and leadership, mainly in three first-tier banks, in the Democratic Republic of Congo and in West Africa (Niger, Senegal and Nigeria).

Meti began his long banking career in June 1987 at the Banque Commerciale du Congo (BCDC), currently Equity BCDC, as a “company trainee”.

In January 1988, Meti joined Citibank DRC as Assistant Financial Controller. During his 19 years of experience in this banking institution, he held high management positions including that of Managing Director from 1998 to 2000. As manager of CITI RDC, he contributed to maintaining the activities of the bank in accordance with the objectives and recommendations issued by the parent company, essentially in an extremely difficult security and socio-economic context in a post-conflict country (DRC).

In the CITI DRC Board of Directors, Meti was an Executive Director for almost 15 years. He contributed to the governance of the bank, notably as Secretary and then as Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Among his great achievements in the banking sector of the DRC, it is worth mentioning the creation, establishment, and inauguration in September 2009 of the Congolese subsidiary of Access Bank Plc, one of the leading banking groups in Nigeria.

Meti was the first Managing Director and CEO of Access Bank D.R. Congo SA, he played an essential role in the transition phase of the bank until it became fully operational to the satisfaction of its customers and all stakeholders, including its shareholders.

Meti was active involvement in the management and governance of Access Bank RDC over the past 12 years, successively as Managing Director and CEO, non-executive Director and finally Chairman of the Board of Directors, has contributed to stabilizing a well-controlled bank, profitable, growing, which continues to strengthen its presence (through the establishment of agencies) on the national territory and on which the economy of the DRC relies.

The transformation of Access Bank to digital and the erection of the head office building represent some of the challenges that Meti bequeathed to his successor in October 2019, when he was completing his last legal term as Chairman of the Board of Directors.

Since August 2020, Meti has been selected and appointed as an Independent Director of Equity Banque Commerciale du Congo (Equity BCDC), the new Congolese subsidiary of the large Kenyan banking group called Equity Group Holdings Plc and currently the second largest bank in the DRC.

Meti is also the promoter of private companies he manages in the DRC, including CONGO FRET EXPRESS SARL, a freight company established in May 2010.
In addition, he is one of the Co-founders and Chairman of the Board of Directors of WISAU STRATEGIES S.A.S., a study and consultancy office recently created (in June 2022).

Meti is married and is a father of five (5) children.

EDUCATION & TRAINING

Meti did all his primary and secondary studies at Collège Boboto in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of Congo, from 1966 to 1978. This phase of his school education was sanctioned by a state diploma.

He also holds a bachelor’s degree in applied economics (1984), a degree in political and administrative science (1985) and finally, a master’s degree in business administration and management (MBA of the Louvain Business School) from the University Catholic of Louvain, in Louvain-La-Neuve in Belgium.

During his professional career, Meti has participated in several specialized training courses, the most recent of which in strategy, credit, risk and management of organizations, customers, and innovation, were organized by Harvard Business School, either on site at the Boston campus in the United States of America, or online since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

OTHER RESPONSIBILITIES

Meti also held the following positions:

– Lecturer (in Accounting and Finance) at the ISC (Institut Superieur de Commerce) from 1987 to 1993.
– Section Academic Secretary (Evening Graduate) at the ISC from 1987 to 1993.
– Non-executive member of the Board of Directors of SOFIDE (Development Finance Company) sitting on behalf of ACB (Congolese Banking Association), from 1998 to 2000.
– Non Executive Director on the Board of Directors of the FEC (Federation of Congo Businesses) in 2000.

LANGUAGE

Meti is a fully bilingual (English & French) professional. Meti evolved exclusively in the subsidiaries of three major English-speaking banking groups, namely Citigroup, Access Bank Plc and Equity Group Holding Plc.

AREAS OF EXPERTISE

Meti defines himself as a Senior bank executive, a financial expert, a developer and project manager, a creator and business manager, a multidisciplinary trainer and consultant.

COUNTRIES

AFRICA: Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Togo, Senegal, Niger, Nigeria, Gambia, Zambia, Kenya, Republic of South Africa, Ghana, Rwanda, Ethiopia

EUROPE: Belgium, Netherlands, France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, United Kingdom, Turkey, Greece, Luxemburg

AMERICA: United States of America, Canada

ASIA: India, United Arab Emirates (Dubai)