High caliber professionals with diverse skills and experience.
James Reynolds Baiden was appointed Chairman of the Board of Directors of Fidelity Bank from 1st January 2023 to succeed Edward Effah who completed his tenure on 31st December 2022.
Jim Baiden, as he is widely known, is a consummate Banking Professional who garnered more than 35 years-experience working in the Banking & Finance Industry right from his first job at National Investment Bank in the early ‘80s until his retirement in 2018 as the Managing Director of Fidelity Bank Ghana.
In October 1998 Jim Baiden teamed up with Edward Effah to co-found Fidelity Discount House and subsequently served as the General Manager & Executive Director from inception in 1998 to 2006.
In October 2006 Jim Baiden came together with Edward Effah and Thomas Svanikier, a key shareholder to develop the transitional framework that culminated in the transformation and founding of Fidelity Bank, a wholly owned Private Sector Bank.
Jim was subsequently appointed the first Deputy Managing Director of Fidelity Bank Ghana Limited.
In June 2016 after 10 years of impeccable service to the Bank as the Deputy Managing and working with a world class Management team that transformed Fidelity into a Top5 bank in Ghana, Jim was appointed the Managing Director of Fidelity Bank. Jim maintained the reputation of the Bank as an outstanding Ghanaian success story and led the Management team to continue growing the Balance Sheet and Profitability of the Bank during his tenure. During the Banking crisis in 2017, Jim then the Managing Director of the Bank, came in for special mention in many fora for his leadership role in building a strong bank that was not indicted by the happenings in the banking industry that led to the collapse of 9 banks.
In October 2018, Jim retired as an Executive Director and Managing Director of Fidelity Bank, having served Fidelity for a total of 20 years. After a 3-year cooling-off period, Jim was re-appointed to the Board of Fidelity Bank in November 2021.
At the 4th Ghana CEOs Summit in March 2019, Jim Baiden was inducted into the Ghana Banking Hall of Fame in recognition of his immense contribution to the development of Banking in Ghana.
During his active working days, Jim gained extensive international experience as an alumnus of Gerrard & National, a City of London based Discount House. He also attended the Darden School of Management, University of Virginia, USA, specialising in “Managing Critical Resources.”
Jim holds a Master’s Degree in Banking & Finance from the Finafrica Foundation, Milan, Italy and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics with Statistics from the University of Ghana, Legon.
Jim is married to Joyce and they have 3 adult children. It is not a secret that Jim is passionate about the things of God and serves as the Chairman of the Action Chapel Scholarship Foundation. In many circles Jim is known as the “TrueBlue” because of his die-hard support of Chelsea Football Club.
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Julian Opuni is the Managing Director of Fidelity Bank and serves as an executive member of the Board. He joined the bank as the Head of Commercial Banking at the inception of the unit. After incubating and building the new business line, he led the growth and consolidation of the wider Commercial & SME Banking segments and ultimately the entire Retail Banking Directorate.
Julian has over 25 years of experience in the financial services sector both locally and internationally. He has extensive experience in business development, credit analysis, and sales management and has also participated in various youth entrepreneurship & business mentoring projects.
Prior to joining Fidelity Bank, Julian had a successful career with Lloyds Bank in the United Kingdom where he worked for over 18 years. He joined Lloyds as a member of their Expedited Management Training Program, holding various roles in Operations and Retail Banking which included Branch Management. Additionally, he held several senior positions in both Business & Corporate Banking, finally leaving as a Senior Manager with responsibility for various business centers in the west of London.
His great leadership skills and business acumen have earned him recognition both locally and internationally. He was the recipient of the Ghana Business Awards’ Outstanding Leadership Award in 2020. He was also adjudged the Best Banking CEO of the Year in Ghana by International Business Magazine while Global Banking and Finance Magazine adjudged him as the Best Banking CEO in Ghana.
He is an Associate of the Institute of Financial Services (Aifs) and holds a B.Sc. in Banking & Financial Services from the University of Manchester Institute of Science & Technology. Julian is also an accredited specialist in Manufacturing, Legal and Property Lending and he has recently been conferreda fellowship by the Chartered Institute of Bankers, Ghana.
Mrs. Adwoa Annan is the co-founder of Geothermal Management Services Ltd, a green technology company. She is also a non-executive director of Waveline Growth Partners Limited, a finance company in Nigeria, and a consulting Advisor at Alfie Designs, a garment manufacturing company, and J&J Plastics Ltd
Prior to that, Mrs. Annan had a successful 30-year career in the financial services sector having worked in both the mainstream banking and microfinance sectors. She has extensive experience in banking operations, customer service, sales management, and strategic management.
She started her career with Barclays as a management trainee where she worked for 23 years, holding various senior management roles in operations, internal audit, branch management, and business development.
Following a passion to empower women, she joined Women’s World Banking in 2007 as the Chief Operations Officer overseeing all aspects of business strategy growth with specific concentration on the banking operations, credits, IT, Human Resources, and Administration units. In 2011, she became the CEO and voluntarily retired after 4 years of implementing a successful turnaround program.
She holds an International Baccalaureate diploma from United World College of the Atlantic (U.K), a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics from the University of Kent at Canterbury (UK), and a professional graduate diploma in management (International Professional Managers Association). She is also a graduate member of the Chartered Institute of Administration and Management Consultancy.
Skander was nominated to represent AfricInvest 4.5 as a non-executive director on the board of the bank.
Harold Richardson is a Ghanaian with over 30 years experience as a Chartered Accountant and currently serves as the Principal at Harry Richardson Consult, an Accounting firm he owns.
Harold is a member of professional bodies including the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ghana (ICAG), the Chartered Institute of Taxation Ghana (CITG), and the Ghana Association of Restructuring and Insolvency Advisors (GARIA). Harold has served as the General Manager (Finance & Admin.)of Vanef STC, Chief Financial Officer of Regimanuel Gray Ltd, and Deputy Director of Finance, Ghana Airways Ltd. He has also served in various capacities at theOld AchimotanAssociation (Achimota School), where he was Treasurer, and became the Vice President. He served as a Trustee of the Achimota School Endowment Trust, a member of the Board of Governors of Achimota School, anda member of the Board of Governors of Christ the King School, He was a director ofVanef STC. Harold currently sits on the board of Chapel Hill School Limited and North Ridge Lyceum Limited, both educational institutions.
Sulemana Abubakar (Abu) is a visionary C-suite executive and digital transformation leader with over 30 years of experience driving business growth through technology innovation and operational excellence. As the former CEO of GE Ghana and Chief Information Officer (CIO) for GE International Markets, he has successfully led multi-billion-dollar digital initiatives across North and South America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. His expertise spans strategic IT leadership, global program execution, and organizational transformation, making him a trusted technology advisor for both mature and emerging markets.
A seasoned board member and strategic technology advisor, Abu currently serves on the boards of Fidelity Bank, OrangeTech Fintech, and PMI Ghana. He is also deeply committed to social impact, having founded Making Learning Happen, an NGO, whose objective is to provide basic desks and chairs to underprivileged children in Ghana.
Abu holds a BSc in Civil Engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, an MBA from Imperial College London, and multiple technology certifications from various institutions, including MIT and Harvard.
Lisa Afua Serwah Mensah is a US citizen who is the President and CEO of the Oregon Community Foundation. The Foundation manages nearly $4 billion in assets and makes annual grants of over $200 million to charitable causes in Oregon and beyond. Formerly Ms. Mensah was the CEO of Opportunity Finance Network (OFN) a network of community development financial institutions that manage over $27 billion of investments in housing, business, and facilities in low-income areas throughout America. She is a development finance expert with experience using public and private sector financial tools to improve economic security. She previously served as President Obama’s Under Secretary of Agriculture for Rural Development and founded the Initiative on Financial Security at The Aspen Institute. She was educated at Harvard and Johns Hopkins and has worked extensively on small and micro-business development, housing, and financial and savings policy. Ms. Mensah began her career in commercial banking at Citibank before joining the Ford Foundation where she was responsible for the country’s largest philanthropic grant and loan portfolio of investments in rural America. She serves on the board of the Heritage and Cultural Society of Africa, U.S.A.
George-Thomas Svanikier (GT) has over 10 years of experience across the technology and finance industries and is currently a Strategy & Operations Lead at Google.
Previously, GT held positions at Goldman Sachs on their Engineering Management & Strategy team. There, he offered strategic guidance and business solutions to engineering leadership. Prior to that, GT worked in FX Cash settlements at Morgan Stanley, where he managed trade allocations, settlements, and post-settlement resolutions for foreign exchange products, catering to both corporate and institutional clients.
GT holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Economics with a minor in Political Science from Washington College (USA) and an MBA from Columbia Business School (USA).
His commitment extends beyond professional endeavors; he serves on the boards of SEVN group, The American Friends of Stowe, HACSA USA and The Washington Center, a D.C.-based organization that provides dynamic, experiential learning opportunities to empower and motivate young people to become engaged global citizens.
He brings a global perspective to his work, having lived and worked on three continents.
Dr. Bernardette Naa Hoffman, is a savvy financial services professional in the banking and non-banking space, a financial crime prevention specialist, entrepreneur and adjunct lecturer with over 17 years ofexperience. Bernardette is currently the Deputy Director General, Finance and Administration at the Social Security and National Insurance Trust.
After a successful banking career, she exited to become the Director of Business Development and Supply Chain Management for her private businesses in the UK and Ghana. She is the Founding President of the BernHoffman Foundation, a platform for like-minded philanthropists that empowers women and the youth through skills-building and training. She is also an advocate for children's rights and a Pan-Africanist.
Dr. Hoffman has held several leadership positions in renowned organisations in Canada, England and Ghana. These include Zurich Insurance, Cooperative Bank, Halifax Bank of Scotland and Marks & Spencer Plc, with her most recent role being Group Head of Retail Banking at Guaranty Trust Bank (Gh) Ltd, before she transitioned into private practice.
She holds a Doctorate in Business Administration and a Master of Applied Research from the SBS Swiss Business School. She also holds an MBA in Corporate Finance from the University of South Wales, Cardiff and a BA (Hons) in Procurement and Supply Chain Management from the University of Northumbria, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Bernie is a Chartered member of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS, UK), the Chartered Institute of Transport and Logistics (CILT, UK), the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS) and a fellow of the International Compliance Association, UK.
For the past 16 years, Dr. Hoffman has been a leading voice in the movement to reduce inequality as a means of fostering progress.
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