The leadership duo engineering NIB record-breaking 2025 turnaround

By Isaac Israel SELASSIE

The National Investment Bank (NIB) PLC has completed one of the most remarkable financial turnarounds in Ghanaian banking history. According to the bank’s 2025 audited financial statements, its first audited accounts in over a decade. NIB PLC recorded a Profit After Tax of GHS 343.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2025, a dramatic leap from a marginal GHS 2.8 million in 2024.

This extraordinary revival was engineered through the synergistic leadership of Managing Director Alhaji Dr. Doliwura Zakaria and Deputy Managing Director Mr. Thomas Hughes Amissah with the unwavering support of the Board of Directors who together executed a disciplined three-policy strategy that transformed a struggling state-owned institution into a profitable, transparent, and strategically relevant national asset.

The Synergistic Leadership Blueprint: Visionary Meets Executor

The transformation’s success was rooted in the complementary expertise of two leaders whose distinct roles proved essential to the bank’s resurrection.

Dr.Doliwura Zakaria: The Strategic Visionary and External Architect

Dr. Zakaria brought over two decades of high-level experience in governance and public finance to the role. As Managing Director, he focused on securing critical political and financial backing, rebuilding NIB’s credibility with national stakeholders, and setting an ambitious new strategic direction.

He successfully framed the bank’s recapitalisation not as a bailout but as a strategic national investment to preserve a key development finance institution. His leadership earned him recognition as the architect of a turnaround that saw operating income surge by 134% to GHS 885.5 million in 2025.

Mr. Thomas Hughes Amissah: The Operational Executor and Internal Reformer

Mr. Amissah, a chartered accountant and banker with over 18 years of deep experience in banking, auditing, and risk management, served as the operational executor. His role was to translate high-level strategy into daily operational reality. While Dr. Zakaria secured the capital, Mr. Amissah designed and enforced the controls to protect it.

He embarked on extensive working tours to branches nationwide to engage directly with staff, enforce new operational disciplines, and internalize the new cultural vision. This ensured the transformation was not merely a top-down decree but a ground-level operational reality.

Policy 1: The Financial Rescue and Recapitalisation Pillar

The first and most urgent policy was to arrest a solvency crisis. Prior to 2024, NIB was technically insolvent, with years of undercapitalization threatening its survival.

• Doliwura’s Impact: He led the critical advocacy that resulted in a government-approved recapitalisation package, secured as a prior action under the IMF program to ensure a non-negative Capital Adequacy Ratio ahead of the 2025 timeline. The bank’s forward-looking overarching restructuring plan was completed in May 2025, setting the foundation for recovery.
• Amissah’s Impact: With capital secured, Mr. Amissah led efforts to fortify the bank’s financial governance, risk management frameworks, and internal audit functions. His work ensured the new capital was strategically deployed rather than consumed by legacy liabilities.
• The Joint Statistical Outcome: The results were extraordinary. The bank’s Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR) surged to a robust 54.5% by year-end 2025, far exceeding the regulatory minimum of 13 percent. Total liabilities increased to GHS 10.5 billion from GHS 6.7 billion, driven largely by deposit growth and additional funding lines to support lending. Most significantly, the bank moved from a negative equity position to a positive equity of GHS 1.55 billion a complete reversal of its previous deficit.

Policy 2: The Operational Prudence and Cultural Transformation Pillar

With a stabilized balance sheet, the second policy targeted the bank’s efficiency, culture, and public trust.

• Doliwura’s Impact: He launched the public-facing initiatives that signaled a new era. In 2025, NIB unveiled its new mobile banking application and initiated a major technology upgrade to enhance speed, security, and digital capability. These investments reinforced the bank’s commitment to modern and reliable banking solutions while remaining faithful to its public mandate.
• Amissah’s Impact: He was the engine that internalized this change. Through strategic branch positioning, streamlined service arrangements, and tighter operational controls, the bank reduced costs and improved efficiency. Improved working conditions, salary enhancements, and widespread staff promotions lifted morale and strengthened service delivery across NIB branches nationwide.
• The Joint Statistical Outcome: The results of this cultural and operational shift are evident in the bank’s efficiency metrics. The cost-to-income ratio declined significantly to about 64%, down from over 100% in 2024. Although operating expenses rose in line with business expansion and prevailing economic conditions, revenue growth substantially outpaced costs, resulting in stronger margins. Operating income surged by 134% to GHS 885.5 million in 2025, up from GHS 378.4 million the previous year. Net interest income tripled to GHS 633.1 million, reflecting improved asset yields and a significant expansion in lending activities.

Policy 3: The Strategic Repositioning and Future-Proofing Pillar

The final policy moved NIB from mere survival to sustainable growth and strategic relevance.

• Doliwura’s Impact: He actively repositioned NIB on the national and international stage as a key player in development finance. He consistently articulated a vision of NIB as a catalyst for national industrialization, financing SMEs, and supporting flagship government programs. The bank’s renewed focus on its development mandate was underscored by a significant increase in income from associates, which climbed to GHS 106.7 million from GHS 8.7 million a year earlier.
• Amissah’s Impact: On the tactical front, Mr. Amissah worked to make this strategic vision operational. He engaged in exploratory talks for strategic partnerships and oversaw the practical implementation of initiatives that aligned the bank with national economic goals.
• The Joint Statistical Outcome: The ultimate validation of any corporate turnaround is profitability. Here, the Doliwura-Amissah effect was nothing short of spectacular. The bank’s Profit After Tax for 2025 reached GHS 343.9 million, a monumental leap from the previous year’s GHS 2.8 million. At the operating level, the bank reversed a loss of GHS 5.6 million in 2024 to post an operating profit of GHS 275.4 million in 2025. Profit before tax rose sharply to GHS 382.1 million, underscoring the strength of the recovery.

The 2025 Audited Statement: A Milestone in Transparency

The publication of NIB’s 2025 audited financial statements marked its first audited accounts in more than a decade, signaling a critical milestone in restoring transparency and confidence in the institution. As Dr. Zakaria stated, “This publication is a declaration of our readiness. It reflects not just our financial health, but the strength of our people, systems, and vision for the future. We are firmly on a growth trajectory”.

Mr. Amissah’s operational leadership ensured that this vision was embedded across the bank’s 48 branches and 5 agencies, with staff morale and service delivery reaching new heights.

Conclusion: A Definitive Blueprint for Corporate Revival

The “Doliwura-Amissah Effect” provides a definitive blueprint for public-sector corporate revival. It demonstrates that profound transformation requires the perfect synergy between the macro-strategist and the micro-manager. Dr. Doliwura Zakaria provided the vital external advocacy, strategic vision, and rebranding that secured the bank’s future. Mr. Thomas Hughes Amissah guaranteed the internal execution, operational discipline, and cultural overhaul that made the vision a reality.

Their combined focus on financial health (Policy 1), operational efficiency (Policy 2), and strategic growth (Policy 3) did not just save a bank from collapse but engineered a comprehensive revival. The audited 2025 financial statement provides irrefutable evidence from a negative equity position to GHS 1.55 billion in positive equity, from a loss of GHS 5.6 million to a profit of GHS 343.9 million, and from a Capital Adequacy Ratio deep in negative territory to a commanding 54.5%. NIB has successfully transitioned from life support to market leadership, standing today as a strengthened national asset grounded in tradition, guided by strategy, and ready for tomorrow.

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