Renowned financial analyst Femi Awoyemi and one of Nigeria’s most respected Marketing Communications practitioners, ’Lolu Akinwunmi, have been lined up to lead discussions at BRANDish Meeting of Minds, an event designed to generate discussions on the way to reshape banking services in Nigeria.

The event, scheduled to take place on March 30, 2017 at the White House Hotel, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, is the initiative of BRANDish, Nigeria’s premier brands and marketing communications publication. It is aimed at fashioning ways for improved banking services in Nigeria, especially in the light of the nebulous economic climate in the country.

Themed ‘What Banks in Nigeria Should Do Differently’, the event has been designed to adopt an outside-in engagement format that will enable consumers of banking products join voices with experts and bankers in proffering a way forward for an industry that has of recent, been facing challenging times.

According to Ikem Okuhu, Analyst-in-Chief, BRANDish, the choice of banking as the focus for the first BRANDish Meeting of Minds arose as a result of the critical role the sector has to play in the recovery plans of various levels of government for the Nigerian economy.

“Banks play pivotal roles in the growth or otherwise of any economy and when there are issues with the operations and marketing functions of this industry, the entire economy ails. The aggregate economic direction of government makes no sense if the banking system does not crystallise them into take-outs for the average consumer and the business public. What this means is that the Nigerian economy as challenged as it currently is, needs a banking system that is in a position to create direction or help interpret the direction for the people. But when the sector that should play this role is itself facing serious challenges, then something serious needs to be done,” Okuhu said.

He further explained that the choice of players from outside the sector to lead the conversation stems from the understanding that only outsiders or those on the periphery are in better positions to appreciate the challenges and proffer functional solutions.

According to Okuhu, “Bankers are like people in other professions and need insight from outsiders and those on the periphery of the industry to understand and advise on ways forward. This is much the same reason doctors are not allowed to treat themselves. In selecting Femi Awoyemi and ’Lolu Akinwunmi to lead the discussions, we were conscious of the fact that liquidity management and product development and marketing remain major challenges that have adversely affected the entire industry and that is why these highly knowledgeable men have been carefully selected to help fashion ways forward for the Nigerian banking industry.”

Olufemi Awoyemi, Founder and CEO of Proshare Nigeria Limited (Nigeria’s foremost financial information hub) is a Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Association of Investment Advisers and Portfolio Managers (AIPM), Institute of Credit Administration, and Institute of Information Management. He is an Associate member of the Institute(s) of Chartered Taxation of Nigeria, Institute of Management Consultants, and the Institute of Directors.

He has been able to build an impeccable portfolio of commercial and management achievements garnered during the course of 27 years of progressive responsibility and results with well-known local and international firms including PricewaterhouseCoopers, UAC of Nigeria, Eterna Oil & Gas Plc, Phillips Consulting, Fountain Trust Bank Plc and British American Tobacco.

On his part, ’Lolu Akinwunmi is the promoter of the ’Lolu Akinwunmi Observatory Blog.

He attended the University of Lagos and graduated in 1980 with a degree in the Liberal Arts. He started his work career in Lintas Advertising in 1982 and set up Prima Garnet Communications in 1992 as a result of a strong conviction that it is indeed possible to conduct business in Nigeria without being compromised. Prima Garnet has since grown into one of the leading Nigerian marketing communication groups with interests in Advertising, Media Management, Public and Media Relations, Experiential Marketing, Government Relations, Social and Mobile Media Management, etc.

’Lolu has been very active in his profession. He served as the 14th President of the Association of Advertising Agencies of Nigeria (AAAN) and the sole representative of the advertisement industry. He also served the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria when President Goodluck Jonathan appointed him the 5th Chairman of the federal parastatal and regulatory body. Prior to this appointment, he had been appointed in 2009 as the pioneer Secretary and later the pioneer CEO of the Federal Government rebranding project under the late Prof. Dora Akunyili, the then Information and Communication Minister.

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