GTB, Ecobank Nominated For African Bankers Awards

Guaranty Trust Bank and Ecobank Nigeria are the only Nigerian banks nominated for awards at the 10^th edition of the African Bankers Awards which will hold during the African Development Bank Annual meetings in Zambia by the end of this month.

Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB) was nominated for three awards including the 2016 African Bank of the Year award which it is contesting with four other banks from Morocco and Mauritius.

GTB was also nominated for the Best Retail Bank and the Innovation Bank of the year award while its managing director and chief executive, Segun Agbaje, was also nominated for the African Banker of the Year award.

Ecobank Nigeria which has been nominated alongside GTB for the Best Retail Bank award, was also nominated for the award for Financial Inclusion and Corporate Social Responsibility bank.

This year’s shortlist is dominated by some of the larger banking groups from North, East, South and West Africa. Now in its 10th year, the awards is open to all African financial institutions, including banks, micro-financiers, investment banks, development finance institutions and other financial services institutions.

The awards were launched to reflect the rapid growth and modernisation of the banking and financial services sector in Africa. The 10th anniversary event comes when the banking sector is undergoing significant changes.

On the one hand, large global banking groups, such as Barclays are seeking to deconsolidate as they focus on their core (non-African) markets, and the other hand, there are talks of further consolidation across the continent from Kenya to Ghana through Zambia and Tunisia.

Publisher of African Banker, organizers of the award, Omar Ben Yedder said: “we introduced these awards as a way of recognising the enormous potential of the African banking and financial services sector. Since then, many of our financial institutions have transformed and are well established to compete with the best in class.

“During this period, corporate and retail banks, along with private equity and investment firms and insurance providers have withstood the effects of the global financial crisis, emerging stronger and fit for purpose. The category which continues to grab my attention is the Deals category, which reflects the transformational role that banks are playing throughout the continent. They remain a cornerstone of economic development.”

Source: leadership.ng