Standard Chartered has announced the appointment of Dalu Ajene as the Chief Executive Officer of the bank’s operations in Africa, with dual responsibilities as the Head of Coverage for Africa.

Until this appointment, Ajene was the CEO of Standard Chartered Nigeria, a role he assumed in April 2024.

He is credited with leading the bank to achieve strong year-on-year financial performance, including meeting the Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) recapitalisation requirement of N200 billion for national commercial banks ahead of the March 2026 deadline.

Before joining Standard Chartered, Ajene was the CEO of Rand Merchant Bank Nigeria.

The appointment of Ajene, who has over 25 years of experience in the global financial services sector, is a testament to the bank’s established culture of promoting excellence and assurance to its esteemed stakeholders in the Nigerian financial industry, the statement said.

Speaking on his appointment, Ajene said: “Having had the privilege of leading Standard Chartered Nigeria over the past two years, I am deeply honoured to now take on broader responsibilities across Africa. This transition reflects the strength of our franchise, the resilience of our teams and the impact we have delivered in a period of significant change and development.

“Across the region, Standard Chartered remains a key partner in trade finance, structured solutions and development finance, leveraging technology to deliver client-centric services anchored on trust. I look forward to working closely with our experienced teams across Africa to accelerate growth across our corporate and investment banking and wealth and retail businesses, mobilise catalytic capital, and create sustainable value for our clients, stakeholders and the communities we serve.”

Ajene holds a Bachelors’ Degree in Economics from Dartmouth College and an MBA from Harvard Business School. He is reputed as a leader passionate about driving a culture of high- performance centered around people empowerment to deliver best-in-class service to clients and robust financial outcomes for stakeholders.

Ajene takes over from Kariuki Ngari who served as CEO, Africa and Sarmad Lone who was in charge of Africa Coverage portfolio.