Victor Ashikoto has taken on a new role as the chief operating officer (COO) of Nedbank. He is a seasoned Information and Communication Technology (ICT) expert with almost two decades’ working experience in senior roles across the banking, telecommunications, transport and energy sectors. 

In this position, Ashikoto is largely responsible for the alignment of Nedbank’s strategy to key national initiatives, including the setting up of innovation, technology and payment capabilities and functionality within the organisation. 
Welcoming the appointment, Richard Meeks—Acting Managing Director of Nedbank said, “We are delighted by the appointment. Ashikoto has worked at the highest levels of corporate Namibia, building business units and operational networks across a wide range of companies and territories.” 

At its core, the new COO owns the customer experience from an efficiency and operational perspective, together with the game-chasing rise of fintech. The appointment is a clear reflection of the bank’s intent to embrace the challenging and changing times we’re in. It calls on authentic leadership, which is able to inspire loyalty and build trust amongst stakeholders. In this, Ashikoto is eager to play his part, especially as an innovator, flexing a proven track record of leading customer-centric technology initiatives in the country. 
Does this mean we will see an entirely new way of banking?  “Probably not, but it does create the need for the customer experience to be clear, transparent and repeatable—a proposition that works. The days of products being sold primarily in brick-and-mortar and having tunnel vision when it comes to digital channels is long gone,” he shares. 

Speaking on the current crisis that has brought economies almost to a standstill, he emphasised, “Banks have an important role to play amidst Covid-19, as the pandemic placed extraordinary demands on leaders in business and beyond. Recognising that a company faces a crisis is the first step for business owners. One simply can’t address something you don’t acknowledge. This is a difficult step, not underestimating the possibility of a crisis and the impact it could have on the business. This crisis is ruled by unfamiliarity and uncertainty, but within Nedbank, we are focused on responding to the pandemic, supporting customers and protecting our employees. Ashikoto holds an MBA degree from the University of Stellenbosch, a B.Tech – Information Technology degree from the Namibia University of Science and Technology, as well as other qualifications in Project Management, Leadership, and General Management from various institutions.