Dr. Erastus B. O. Akingbola holds MBA degree from the University of Lagos (1986).  He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers, London (1988) and Nigeria (1988), the Nigerian Institute of Management (1996) and the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN) (1998).  He has had over 34 years continuous banking experiences embracing commercial banking, merchant banking, discount house operations, leasing and insurance.  He started his banking career with Barclays Bank (Union Bank) in 1971 and rose to the position of Assistance Accountant in 1977, before leaving for NAL Merchant Bank Limited as Executive Assistant in the Operations Department.  He rose rapidly at NAL, becoming a Senior Manger in 1984.  Dr. Akingbola joined First City Merchant Bank Limited in 1987 as Controller of Operations and was there in this capacity until 1989 when he was appointed the pioneer Managing Director / Chief Executive of Nigerian Intercontinental Merchant Bank Limited (now Intercontinental Bank Plc).
             
Dr. Akingbola has attended several local and international banking and executive management courses including courses in the USA (Harvard Business School), France, Switzerland, Singapore, United Kingdom etc.  He was elected in 2004 to represent West Africa in the Executive Board of the African Bankers’ Forum, an arm of the AFREXIMBANK, which seeks to integrate private sector banking institutions in Africa for continental business finance.  AFREXIMBANK and African Development Bank are the only two financial institutions owned by all African governments.  He also bagged the Kwame Nkrumah Award from the Nkrumah foundation in Ghana in 2004 as CEO of the one of the leading financial institutions in Africa.  Back home he was a recipient of the Zik’s Leadership Award.  All these and many more were bestowed on Akingbola in 2004.

A man of many parts, Dr. Akingbola belongs to several professional organizations, had served as President, Lagos Business School Alumni Association (1998-2000), and was a former President of the Institute of Charted Secretaries and Administration of Nigeria (ICSAN).  President Olusegun Obasanjo conferred him with the national honor of Member of the Order of the Niger (MON) in recognition of his contribution to the development of the Nigerian economy. He is currently Chairman of Intercontinental Securities Limited, Associated Discount House Limited and Tropics Finance Limited and a Director, WAPIC Insurance Nigeria Plc and Intercontinental Capital Markets Limited.