Bob Diamond provides succour to Atlas Mara

Unfortunately, Mr Vitalo is not the first senior manager to leave the group. Last year the group lost its chairman too in the form of Arnold Ekpe, an African banking veteran. Mr Diamond has been serving as interim chairman since Mr Ekpe left.

Mr Epke's departure coincided with disappointing third-quarter results, which showed the group suffering due to the decline in a number of African currencies as pre-tax profit fell from $7.1m to $4m year on year. That was despite a 15 per cent rise in total income, which was largely driven by non-interest income in the form of acquisition and fair value gains. The group has also been highly acquisitive during its life, and expenses rose by nearly a fifth during the period as a result. By trying to create the first pan-African banking group based on new technologies, Atlas Mara has made acquisitions across several sub-Saharan countries, including Nigeria, Botswana and Zimbabwe.

By way of response, the group has seen fit to launch a strategic review to get itself back on track. From now on, the group intends to split itself into three units: commercial and retail banking, fintech, and markets, and treasury. It also plans to cut $20m of operating and staff costs in its central functions, which are mostly based in Dubai and Johannesburg. Various reports have cited rumours about taking the group private, but it's thought investors have so far rejected this proposal.