Board of Directors

Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa

Chairman

Rasheed is currently the Founder of Niche Capital Limited and Informed Analytics Limited. Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa has 30 years’ experience in the banking and financial services sectors, playing senior and executive level roles in Retail, Corporate and Investment Banking, Treasury Management, Financial Control, and Strategic Management gained from reputable institutions such as KPMG Professional Services, GT Bank, Ecobank, United Bank for Africa (UBA), and Bank Of Industry. He was the pioneer Group CEO of United Capital Plc, a leading financial investment services company in Africa. Prior to this, he was an Executive Director at the United Bank for Africa Plc (UBA), where he led the largest and most profitable Strategic Business Directorate in the Banking Group. Rasheed was also the pioneer CEO of UBA Africa from 2007 to 2011, during which time he extended UBA’s operations into 18 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. He was also recently the CEO of Bank Of Industry Nigeria.

He holds a First Class Honors’ degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Nigeria and an Executive MBA from International Graduate School of Management (IESE), Spain. He is also an Associate Member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN).

Mr. Alfred Amoah

Managing Director

Alfred Amoah has over 20 years banking experience in Retail Banking, various aspect of Operations and E-Banking in various Commercial Banks including Savings and Loans.

Alfred started off his banking career with Barclays Bank Ghana ( Now Absa Ghana ) where he started from the bottom as a teller and rose through the ranks to be the Head in various aspect of Operations of various banks in Ghana such as First Atlantic Bank, Access Bank, UBA Ghana Limited and Abii National Savings and Loans.

Prior to joining Bloom Bank Gambia, he joined uniBank as the Head of E-Banking and due to his achievements he was seconded to UniCredit Savings and Loans as the Head of Retail Banking where he led the strategic business growth agenda for the Retail Business through the deployment of e- banking tools to improve profitability and reach for the mostly retail and small business segments of the customer base.

He was then raised to the Executive Head, Business Operations at uniCredit Ghana Limited where he also provided leadership and effectively managed the Business, Operations, service quality and IT/ e- banking departments of the institution.

Alfred holds an MBA in Banking and Finance from the Paris Graduate School of Management (PGSM) and a first degree in Economics from Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria. He has also attended several banking and management courses both locally and internationally.

Mr. Gabriel Edgal

Director

He is currently the Managing Partner of Oakwood Green Capital Ltd. Until recently, Gabriel was the CEO of First Atlantic Bank, Ghana where he is also a part owner, and prior to that, the Africa CEO for a large Pan-African bank, United Bank for Africa Plc, with the responsibility of strategically positioning the firm to achieve its corporate objectives in 18 African countries, acquiring vast experience in dealing with policy makers, key industry leaders, and regulatory agencies locally, regionally and internationally.

He is an astute and seasoned banker with about 25 years’ experience and a comprehensive understanding of doing business in Africa. He has been well exposed, during the course of his career to Governance, Strategy, Corporate and SME Lending, Project Finance, Treasury and Cash Management, Risk Management, Structured Trade and Financial Technology. Gabriel is a corporate turnaround expert, having engineered significant business transformations in seven UBA operating country subsidiaries as well as most recently, in First Atlantic Bank Ghana. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Civil Engineering and Masters in Business Administration and is an alumni of the INSEAD Business School.

Dr. Taiwo Olayinka Afolabi

Director

Dr. Taiwo Olayinka Afolabi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of SIFAX Group, a multinational conglomerate. He began his professional career with a shipping company, Nigerian Express Agencies Limited, where he distinguished himself and rose to become the Head of Operations. With the zeal of entrepreneurship burning in him, he left the company in 1988 to establish what has now turned to a big conglomerate, SIFAX Group, a business interest with diverse investments in Maritime, Aviation, Haulage, Logistics, Oil & Gas and Hospitality, among others.

From a little beginning, the company, which started as a freight forwarding agency in Lagos, Nigeria, currently operates across the world with presence in the United States, United Kingdom, Ghana, South Africa, Holland, Belgium, Morocco, Spain and Djibouti, among others.

Some of the Group’s subsidiaries include Ports and Cargo Handling Services Limited, concessionaire and operator of the Terminal C, Tin Can Island Ports, Apapa Lagos; SIFAX Off Dock Limited, a bonded terminal operator; SIFAX Stevedoring Limited; SIFAX Oil and Gas Limited; SIFAX Haulage & Logistics Limited; SIFAX Logistics & Marine Services Limited; Skypower Aviation Handling Company Limited, an aviation ground handling company and SIFAX Shipping Limited.

Mr. Abdoulie Mam Njie

Director

He holds a BA in Economics from Elmira College, New York, USA and a Masters degree in National Development and Project Planning from the University of Bradford, United Kingdom. Mr. Njie had an extensive career in the civil service of The Gambia where he held several sensitive positions before retiring as a Permanent Secretary in 2005. He was formerly a consultant for the UNDP, and is working presently as a consultant on health projects financed by the World Bank, Global Fund, GAVI, West African Health Organisation among others.


						

					

							

						
						
Mr. Omar Jawara 

						
Director

						

							
 


Mr Omar Jawara is a Gambian, he studied at Seaford College, West Sussex and then proceeded to study Law at the University of Buckingham both in the United Kingdon.  He is a Barrister and Solicitor enrolled in the Gambian and Nigerian Bar.  Mr Jawara started his legal career at Attorney Generals Chambers and Ministry of Justice as a State Counsel for several years working under the Director of Public Prosecution.  Subsequently transferred to Civil Litigation which represented government in all Civil litigation, provided legal advisory on a variety of issues, negotiations, arbitration and represented the Ministry in various Boards.  He was appointed as junior counsel and aided a commission of enquiry set up by the President to investigate and give recommendation on the Report of the Auditor General in year 2000.


 


He later went into private practice at Ida Drameh and Associates, a leading law firm as Counsel. The firm mainly worked in Insurance, Real Estate, Commercial, Banking, Company and Criminal law. He worked under the principal partner in litigation, research, drafting and advisory in different areas of the law


 


He later ventured into business and worked as CEO in the establishment and certification process of Atlantic Express Airlines, a family owned business.  Operating in the west coast of Africa and United Kingdom. Succeeded in reaching profitability within 5 months of operation which was achieved through high motivation of staff, running an efficient operation with close day to day monitoring and aggressive revenue management technics using latest aviation technology.


 


He later moved and became Managing Director of Liguey Africa, a construction company.  Projects included the Taiwan Embassies, Libyan Embassy, various hotels, health centres and branches for banks. He was responsible for overall redirection of the company, increasing turnover and its profitability.


 


Mr Jawara is a co-founder and Executive Director of the leading chain of hotels belonging to – Balafon Co Ltd and Djeliba Leisure Group who are owners and managers of the leading hotel chain the country, they also specialize in ground handling apartment rentals and travel services. They have recently been involved in property development in both residential and commercial projects in The Gambia and Senegal.  He oversees the human resources, finance and legal matters of the company.


 


Mr Jawara is married with 3 children.  An energetic, versatile, hardworking and results oriented gentleman


 

						

					

			





	
Senior Management

	

							

						
						
Mr. Alfred Amoah

						
Managing Director

						

							
Alfred Amoah has over 20 years banking experience in Retail Banking, various aspect of Operations and E-Banking in various Commercial Banks including Savings and Loans.


Alfred started off his banking career with Barclays Bank Ghana ( Now Absa Ghana ) where he started from the bottom as a teller and rose through the ranks to be the Head in various aspect of Operations of various banks in Ghana such as First Atlantic Bank, Access Bank, UBA Ghana Limited and Abii National Savings and Loans.


Prior to joining Bloom Bank Gambia, he joined uniBank as the Head of E-Banking and due to his achievements he was seconded to UniCredit Savings and Loans as the Head of Retail Banking where he led the strategic business growth agenda for the Retail Business through the deployment of e- banking tools to improve profitability and reach for the mostly retail and small business segments of the customer base.


He was then raised to the Executive Head, Business Operations at uniCredit Ghana Limited where he also provided leadership and effectively managed the Business, Operations, service quality and IT/ e- banking departments of the institution.


Alfred holds an MBA in Banking and Finance from the Paris Graduate School of Management (PGSM) and a first degree in Economics from Ahmadu Bello University in Nigeria. He has also attended several banking and management courses both locally and internationally.

						

					

							

						
						
James A. Bittaye

						
Executive Director, Business

						

							
James A. Bittaye is a dynamic, results oriented banking professional with over 25 years well rounded

experience in Corporate, Commercial, Retail and Mortgage Banking. He is very good at building and

maintaining cordial relationships with key people who influence decision making in government and

corporate businesses.


He has worked for renowned international and regional commercial banks, including Standard

Chartered Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, United Bank for Africa (UBA) -Nigeria, Ghana and Senegal-,

First Bank of Nigeria subsidiary (FBN Bank), Senegal and recently – still in banking – , a local bank in

Cote D’Ivoire, Banque De L’Habitat de Cote D’Ivoire (BHCI) before creating his own financial services

company. He then joined Oakwood Green Africa, who in turn seconded him to Bloom Bank Africa

(Gambia) Ltd where he currently serving as an Executive Director, Business Development. He has

been actively involved in strategic management and leadership in different institutions, and

participated in board sub-committee meetings as well as having full board responsibilities in order to

provide strategic direction.


His international experience spans several countries, namely; Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Cote

D’Ivoire and the USA, where he also studied Finance (graduated summa cum laude) at the University

of the District of Columbia.

						

					

							

						
						
Baboucarr Mboob

						
Head, Global Markets & Institutional Banking

						

							
Baboucarr Mboob holds an MBA from university of Gloucestershire, UK. He holds an accredited MBA from the International University, London Center, UK and a Post Graduate Diploma in Management Studies from City Business College, UK. Baboucarr has over 10 years banking experience which cuts across Corporate Banking, Foreign Operations and Treasury operations. He was the ALM Officer in the Treasury Department of Ecobank Gambia before his appointment as Head of Treasury of Skye Bank Gambia Limited. Baboucarr also served as the Interim MD of Skye Bank Gambia during its transition and divestment from Polaris Bank Limited.

						

					

							

						
						
Tamara Barrow

						
Head, Business Banking

						

							
Tamara Barrow assumed responsibility as Head Business Banking in October 2019. In this role, Tamara is responsible for profitable growth in market share and growth in asset through promotion of the bank’s products and services. Ms. Barrow Tamara started her banking career as a Personal Assistant and has over the years rose through the ranks. She is a performance-driven professional with over 15 years of multi-disciplinary experience in the Banking Service Industry, with emphasis in Operations, Customer Service, Marketing, Human Resources and Total Quality Management. She has held middle and senior level positions in both Access Bank Gambia and FBN Gambia. Tamara holds a bachelor’s degree in Business and Management for the University of Glamorgan and is a member of the London Centre of Marketing.

						

					

							

						
						
Cherno O. Cham

						
Chief Finance Officer

						

							
Cherno O Cham is chartered accountant (ACCA) qualified with over 10 years banking experience. He began his banking career as a teller and rose through the ranks to becoming the Head of Risk Management Unit in Trust Bank Limited; the position he held before joining Skye Bank Gambia.


He is experienced in Banking Operations, Risk management, Internal Audit, Financial Accounting and Financial Management. He was appointed as the bank’s CFO in May 2016. Mr. Cherno Cham is currently the of Financial Control, Strategy and Insight.

						

					

							

						
						
Obinna Igwe

						
Head, Information Technology

						

							
Obinna is a consummate and hands-on Technology Professional with over 9 years experience in Technology Transformational Projects spanning across different sectors with major focus on Technology, Banking and Insurance. He has led and partcipated in several Digital Transformation Projects for Financial and non-Financial institutions across Africa. He holds a B.Sc in Computer Science & Statistics and other Professional Certifications

						

					

							

						
						
Saffiatou Sanneh

						
Head, Risk Management

						

							
Joined the Bank in February 2022, Saffiatou Sanneh is an experienced Risk Management Professional and a graduate in Economics and Finance from the University of the Gambia (UTG). 


Prior to her appointment as the Head, Risk Management, Saffiatou has worked in FBNBank Gambia (a subsidiary of First Bank of Nigeria) where she was very instrumental in the implementation of the Bank’s integration project policy following an acquisition of International Commercial Bank (ICB). She spearheaded the Risk Management Function in the development of policies, launching of new lending products, establishment of risk controls and structuring of the Risk Management Function in line with the parent Bank structures and best practice dictates.


Her experience spans in roles that involves risk management and oversight, she is vastly knowledgeable in Operational Risk Management, Credit Analysis & Processing, Credit Risk Management and Market & Liquidity Risk Management. She is an in-house coach on risk management matters and she strive to continuously improve the Bank’s risk management culture.    

						

					

							

						
						
Victoria Olufunmilayo Akano

						
Head, Human Resources

						

							
Funmi Akano is a seasoned human resources practitioner with over a decade experience in

Banking. She has Master’s degree in Business Administration with (Human Resource

Management Option), Postgraduate Diploma in Management Science, Higher Diploma in

Public Administration, Advanced Diploma in Human Resource Management, Higher National

Diploma in Secretarial Administration all from Ladoke Akintola University Ogbomoso, Oyo

State. Nigeria. College of Local Government and Public Administration, University of Lagos

and Yaba College of Technology Lagos, Nigeria.

A Proficient Human Resources Consultant with a demonstrated history of working in

Financial Institution Training Centre owned by Banker's Committee. Skilled in Organizational

Development, Team Building, Administration, Training, and Human Resources.

An Associate member of Nigerian Institute of Training & Development (NITAD).

						

					

			







	

		

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