Dr. Ekundayo Walton Gilpin is the Managing Director of Rokel Commercial Bank, which has become now a household name in Sierra Leone. Through his leadership prowess, the bank has become a brand for international attractions and even for locals. In recent times, the Managing Director was awarded by African Leadership Magazine’s (ALM) of 25 Top Financial Leaders in Africa this year in Ghana, and this is not only good news for the bank, but for all Sierra Leoneans.
However, Dr. Gilpin’s success stories in the bank cannot be written on a single page, and it will be an exaggeration, to say the least of him. His success story is not without its challenges, like the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic that affected the productivity of businesses in the world and made many companies lay off their workers. However, RC Bank MD zealously continued with his customers and staff, and by extension, the Makeni branch and other branches became a supporting tool for the locals and investors in the country. They described their relationship with the bank as “A friend of the poor.”
At the time, Dr. Gilpin took over his predecessor, Mr. Macauley, in 2017, the bank’s financial margin line (profit) was eight billion (Le8b). Due to Dr. Gilpin’s expertise and wealth of experience in the financial sector, he was able to generate fifty-two billion leones in the following year, and this was considered a huge profit and was a credible result, as shown for an Le 88.7 billion profit for the 2021 financial year. This was not the only catch, he has to restructure the bank administration and his staff for effective service delivery, and today, the bank has become a metaphor in the minds of many people, even the indigenous people who are sometimes frustrated with the way and manner certain banks treat their customers. This set of people are happy to bank with Rokel Commercial Bank, and the bank is making huge impact on the lives of its numerous customers, and the management and shareholders are at peace because there is a steward at the bank that knows his God and the people he serves.
