Access Bank has appointed senior executive director and co-founder of the bank, Bolaji Agbede, to the position of CEO on an interim basis after the death of its CEO and co-founder, Herbert Wigwe, in a helicopter crash in the United States of America.

Bolaji Agbede joined Access Bank in 2003 and has almost 30 years' experience in banking and business consultancy, Access Holdings said in a statement.

"Ms. Agbede's appointment is in line with our sound succession planning practices. We firmly believe that Ms. Agbede, as the Company's most senior executive, with an exceptionally rich professional and leadership experience and an understanding of Access' culture, will provide the much-needed leadership to guide the Company towards achieving its strategic vision of building a globally connected community and ecosystem, inspired by Africa for the world," it reads.

Agbede is a versatile professional with over 27 years' experience in human resources management, customer relationship management and banking operations. She has a proven track record of successfully integrating people during mergers and acquisitions, cultural transformation and the execution of corporate strategies.

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Agbede joined Access Bank in 2003 as Deputy General Manager and was responsible for managing the Bank's portfolio of chemical trading companies. She has held the position of HR Director for the Access Bank Group since 2010, where she oversees the development of the Group's human capital.

Agbede has a degree in Mathematics and Statistics from the University of Lagos (1990) and later obtained a Masters in Business Administration from Cranfield University in 2002. She is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management UK and the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management in Nigeria. He has participated in several renowned leadership and professional development programmes, including the High-Performance Leadership Programme organized by IMD and the Strategic Talent Management Programme organized by London Business School.