The African Banker Awards Committee has announced the nominees for the 2018 edition of its yearly Awards.
The Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank, Segun Agbaje is among the nominees for African Banker of year category. Others in this category include: Mohamed El Kettani – Managing Director, Attijariwafa Bank (Morocco), James Mwangi – Managing Director, Equity Group Holdings Plc (Kenya), and Joshua Oigara – Managing Director, KCB (Kenya).
Interestingly, Guaranty Trust Bank also made the list for African Bank of the Year among other banks including Attijariwafa Bank (Morocco), Equity Group Holdings (Kenya), The Mauritius Commercial Bank (Mauritius) and Standard Chartered Bank.
The Awards, which is hosted by African Banker magazine, will be held during the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) at the end of May in Busan, South Korea. The finalists, selected by an expert judging panel of bankers and business leaders will be announced at the African Banker Awards ceremony which will take place on Wednesday 22nd May.
Chair of the Awards Committee, Omar Ben Yedder, the Group Publisher and Managing Director of IC Publications Group which publishes African Banker, said that he was once again impressed by the quality and breadth of entries this year.
“We saw McKinsey earlier in the year releasing a very positive report analysing the banking landscape in Africa. The entries reaffirm their findings when they say Africa’s banking market are amongst the most exciting in the world. The categories that caught my eye were innovation in banking – and this year’s entries reflect the transformative role of fintech and also blockchain technology – as well as deal of the year, which is every year a very competitive category. Equity markets were a little slower in 2017, but we saw some interesting deals on the debt side and also transformative infrastructure financing structures.
The quality of the entries, and sophistication of the solutions being presented, reflect a buoyant sector in continuous evolution.” The awards which are held under the high patronage of the African Development Bank and, are sponsored by The African Guarantee Fund, Banco Nacional de Investimento (BNI), Groupe Crédit Agricole du Maroc and the Bank of Industry. Ecobank will be the hosts of the African Banker Awards cocktail reception prior the awards. The Gala Dinner and Awards presentation will take place at the Paradise Hotel, Busan.
Other categories in the African Bankers Awards include: Best Retail Bank in Africa, Investment Bank of the Year, Award for Financial Inclusion, Award for Innovation in Banking, Socially Responsible Bank of the Year, and Deal of the Year (Equity, Debt and Infrastructure)
Individual recognition will also be given in the categories for the Regional Bank winners, Central Bank Governor of the Year, Finance Minister of the Year and Lifetime Achievement.