BUSINESS

Co-operative Bank Named East Africa’s Regional Bank Of The Year

BT ReporterJun 2, 2022805

Co-op Bank Best Regional Bank East Africa (1)

This year’s the awards were sponsored by the African Guarantee Fund, Bank of Industry (Nigeria) and the Trade Development Bank as well as Access Bank.

On May 25th 2022, the 16^th edition of the African Banker Awards Gala Ceremony took place at the Kempinski Hotel, in Accra, Ghana. The event was held under the High Patronage of the African Development Bank, being part of the programme of the Bank’s Annual Meetings. Over 300 banking and financial services professionals joined the gala ceremony.

The Regional Bank of the Year Award for East Africa was given to the Co-operative Bank of Kenya for overall excellence in banking in the region.

This year’s the awards were sponsored by the African Guarantee Fund, Bank of Industry (Nigeria) and the Trade Development Bank as well as Access Bank. The Award Patron is the African Development Bank.

Meanwhile, two women won two of the most prestigious awards: the African Banker Icon and Finance Minister of the Year.

Ms Vera Songwe, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, was awarded the African Banker Icon Award for her tireless work in providing governments with the fiscal solution to deal with the impact of COVID-19.

“It really was a moment to demonstrate that Africa is resilient. I came to the table with an understanding of the menu of solutions because in 2008 I was on the other side [of the table] when SDRs were handed out to European economies [to stave off a financial crìsis]…What we are focusing on at the ECA is prosperity. The ingredients are there for success; there is latent innovation; what we need to do is provide the infrastructure; the soft infrastructure, the hard infrastructure and the human capital to deliver the end game which is jobs, prosperity and a better life for all,” Ms Songwe said in her acceptance speech.

Angola’s Finance Minister, Hon Vera Esperança dos Santos Daves de Sousa, was recognised as the Finance Minister of the Year for her stand-out work in restoring stability and market confidence to her country.

Another notable recognition was for Michael Atingi-Ego, the Deputy Central Bank Governor, Uganda, who won Central Bank Governor of the Year. Earlier this year, his predecessor, Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile, Ugandan economist and Governor of the Central Bank of Uganda, pássed awáy, leaving a void which will not be easily filled. However, the Central Bank of Uganda was one of the star performers this year, having managed to stave off inflation and achieve currency stability in an extremely challenging environment.

In his speech, Omar Ben Yedder, Chair of the African Banker Awards Organising Committee and Publisher of African Banker magazine, said that it is time we focused our efforts on strengthening our domestic capabilities to finance growth. “We need strong institutions and we need to start with our commercial and development banks. If we have learnt anything from the past two years, and even more so these last two months, it is that we need to achieve financial sovereignty if we are to own our growth agenda.”

Other winners include legendary Nigerian banker Atedo Peterside, founder of IBTC Bank, which he merged with Stanbic 15 years ago, who won Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to banking. The success of IBTC, he said, was built on everyone buying into the mission of the bank and shared values and culture.

WINNERS OF THE AFRICAN BANKER AWARDS 2022