Some 55 nominees have made the shortlist for the 2026 African Banker Awards. The awards, which is now its 20th year, recognises and celebrates leading institutions and bankers making great strides in Africa’s banking and finance sectors.
On 27th May, the winners will be celebrated for their innovative, transformative, sustainable and inclusive banking initiatives, deals and products in the preceding year, in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo during the African Development Bank Annual Meetings.
African Banker magazine today announced the shortlist of 55 nominees for this year’s edition of its annual African Banker Awards. The African Banker Awards recognise and celebrate exceptional individuals and organisations driving Africa’s rapidly transforming financial services sector.
As in previous editions, the 2026 edition of the African Banker Awards is organised by African Banker magazine and IC Events under the high patronage of the African Development Bank.
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The African Guarantee Fund, a fund created to share risks with commercial banks to encourage them to lend to the SME sector returns as the ceremony’s platinum sponsor while African Trade and Investment Development Insurance (ATIDI), which provides facilities to ensure against country risks and other associated insurance services, is the exclusive cocktail sponsor. Rounding up support for the 2026 edition of the awards are Afreximbank and the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) as gold sponsors.
The shortlist of 55 nominees for the African Banker Awards 2026 emerged from a consideration of more than 250 entries submitted in nine categories by banks spread across the African continent. In recognition and acknowledgement of the contribution of female bank CEOs across the continent, this year’s shortlist features three female bank executives as contenders for the prestigious “Banker of the Year” award up from two in 2025.
Speaking on the awards, Omar Ben Yedder, Chair of the Awards committee emphasized the important role banks are playing in structuring groundbreaking transactions across the continent. “Over the last twenty years, we have seen a significant evolution in the work of banks,” Yedder said. “They’re now structuring groundbreaking transactions and using domestic capital and their own balance sheets to finance transformative projects. The Deals categories continue to show innovation to deliver much needed homegrown solutions.”
The nominees for the African Banker Awards 2026 are as follows:
Banker of the Year
- Jeremy Awori – Ecobank
- Mukwandi Chibesakunda – Zanaco, Zambia
- Serge Ekué – West African Development Bank (BOAD)
- Dr James Mwangi – Equity Group, Kenya
- Dr Abdulmajid Nsekela – CRDB Bank, Tanzania
- Miriam Chidiebele Olusanya – Guarantee Trust Bank, Nigeria
- Dr. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, OON – Fidelity Bank, Nigeria
Bank of the Year
- Arab African International Bank
- Bank of Africa
- Co-operative Bank of Kenya
- Ecobank
- Equity Bank, Kenya
- Guaranty Trust Bank, Nigeria
Fintech of the Year
- Inclusivity Solutions
- Nala
- Thoburns Communications
- Valu
- Ziidi Trader
DFI of the Year
- Africa Finance Corporation (AFC)
- African Guarantee Fund (AGF)
- Afreximbank
- Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA)
- Bank of Industry (BOI)
- Credit Corp Nigeria
- West African Development Bank (BOAD)
SME Bank of the Year
- Co-operative Bank of Kenya
- Equity Group, Kenya
- GCB Bank, Ghana
- Trust Merchant Bank, DRC
- Uganda Development Bank
Sustainable Bank of the Year
- Access Holdings, Nigeria
- Bank of Industry, Nigeria
- Commercial International Bank Egypt (CIB)
- Co-operative Bank of Kenya
- Nedbank, South Africa
- Rawbank, DRC
Infrastructure Deal of the Year
- Abu Qir Port and new Abu Qir City – National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr
- Aksa Enerji – African Finance Corporation (AFC)
- Genser Energy – Standard Bank
- Craneburg EKSG Motorway 20-Year Infrastructure – Infrastructure Credit Guarantee Company (InfraCredit), Nigeria
- Mota-Engil multi-country multi-sector LoC – Trade and Development Bank
- New Bugesera International Airport project in Rwanda – African Trade & Investment Development Investment (ATIDI)
- Red Rocket Holdco – Rand Merchant Bank
Deal of the Year – Equity
- Africa Capital Alliance Divestment of 16% Stake in Aradel Holdings – CardinalStone Partners
- Arise IIP Exit/Equity Raise – African Finance Corporation
- AXA/Apis/EIB Sale of Baobab Group Stake to Beltone Holding – Enexus Finance
- Diageo Sale of EAB Plc and UDV Stakes to Asahi– Bank of America
- IFC $100M Investment – Raxio Group
Deal of the Year – Debt
- Project Nexxus – Afreximbank and African Finance Corporation (AFC)
- Al Barakah Sukuk Islamic Finance Transaction – CRDB
- NBET Transaction – Cardinal Stone Partners
- Côte d’Ivoire JPY50bn ESG Samurai Bond – SMBC
- Crossboundary – Standard Bank
- Drive Finance long term syndicated facility – National Bank of Egypt
- Project Oak: Kenya Roads Board – Absa
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