Dalu Ajene

Dalu Ajene is the Chief Executive Officer of Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria. Prior to this position, he worked at Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) for over ten years in various roles, cumulating to become the MD/CEO of RMB Nigeria. He has over twenty-two years of financial services experience working for both international banks and Africa banks. He has executed over US$20-billion worth of financing, structuring, capital markets and advisory transactions on several continents including Africa, Europe, Middle East and North America. 

Dalu started his career in 2000 at Bear Stearns as an Investment Banking Analyst in New York and spent the next nine years honing his skills in corporate finance at Bank of America and Prudential Capital Group. He moved to Africa in 2009 to join Rand Merchant Bank as a Business Development Director and was an integral member of the team that set up RMB Nigeria, where he led the corporate finance business until his departure in 2014. He spent the next four years in the Middle East, where he served as Managing Director and Investment Banking Head of Anglophone Africa for BNP Paribas out of their MENA office in Bahrain and Managing Director of UHNW Africa for Credit Suisse out of their MENA office in Dubai. In 2018, he returned to Rand Merchant Bank, taking up various roles including Global Head of Coverage in South Africa, Head of Investment Banking in Nigeria and MD/CEO of RMB Nigeria. 

Dalu served on the Board of RMB Nigeria and was a senior member of FirstRand Group executive committees in South Africa including FSR Africa Exco, RMB FRM ExCo, Client Board and other Group risk and credit committees. 

Dalu holds an M.B.A. in Finance and Strategy from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from Dartmouth College. He is an active member of the Young Presidents Organization, the Metropolitan Club and other non-profit endeavors that he is committed to. Dalu is married and has two sons and enjoys running and playing squash.