Ecobank Transnational Incorporated has announced a US$75 million Additional Tier 1 (“AT1”) investment by Arise B.V. (“Arise”). This Basel III compliant instrument is the first AT1 instrument issued by ETI and a landmark transaction in the sub-Saharan Africa region. The investment will optimize and improve ETI’s Tier 1 capital by US$75 million.
The investment by Arise, a leading equity investor in financial institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa and one of ETI’s existing major institutional shareholders, demonstrates the support, commitment and capacity of Ecobank’s international shareholder base. This additional investment will be used by ETI for its general corporate purposes which will include loan growth and strengthening the capital buffers of profitable subsidiaries in two of the Group’s cornerstone regions, Francophone West Africa and Anglophone West Africa.
Ade Ayeyemi, Group Chief Executive Officer of ETI, stated: “This investment by Arise is a testament to continued support and confidence from our shareholders; their commitment to, and belief in our strategy which we remain focused on executing to deliver value to our shareholders and excellence to our customers. Indeed, in addition to improving our double leverage ratio, it is also a good boost for the firm and its staff”.
Deepak Malik, Chief Executive Officer of Arise stated: “ETI is our primary banking investment in Francophone West Africa and Anglophone West Africa. We are very supportive of ETI’s growth ambitions and its ability to increase financial services to Agri, SMEs & retail customers. Our investment will also strengthen the balance sheet of ETI and provide additional risk capital”.
The AT1 investment follows ETI’s ground-breaking US$350 million subordinated Sustainability Eurobond issued in June 2021 which was very well received by international investors across multiple continents. The Eurobond, which qualifies as Tier 2 capital, is listed on the London Stock Exchange.