Flutterwave, Africa’s leading payment technology company, and Yemisi Edun, managing director, FCMB, have been nominated for this year’s African Banker Awards, which is taking place on May 24 in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, and a part of the official programme of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Annual Meetings.
Since its inception in 2007, the African Banker Awards aim to recognise the exceptional individuals and organisations driving Africa’s rapidly transforming financial services sector. The winners of the African Banker Awards will be announced during the official Gala ceremony.
According to a statement, this year’s awards Gala is poised to heighten the theme of gender equity in the industry, as demonstrated by the substantial proportion of female candidates vying for the coveted title of Banker of the Year, where FCMB’s managing director is nominated.
In addition, in partnership with the African Guarantee Fund, a fresh accolade has been instituted to acknowledge and encourage initiatives to propel financial inclusivity for women across the African continent, the AFAWA Bank of the Year award. AFAWA (Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa) is a pan-African initiative to bridge the $42 billion financing gap facing African women.
The African Banker Awards nominees were selected from a record number of entries, representing the entirety of the African continent, over 10 categories, and shortlisted by the Awards committee.
The nominees for the African Banker Awards 2023 are:
Banker of the Year: Admassu Tadesse – Trade and Development Bank; Benedict Oramah – Afreximbank; Esther Kariuki – Co-operative Bank of Kenya; Moezz Mir – SBM Bank, Kenya; Mukwandi Chibesakunda – Zanaco, Zambia; Othman Benjelloun – Bank of Africa and Yemisi Edun – FCMB.
Bank of the Year: Afreximbank; Bank of Africa; Co-operative Bank of Kenya, CRDB Bank – Tanzania; The Mauritius Commercial Bank; Trade and Development Bank; Trust Merchant Bank, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
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Sustainable Bank of the Year: Absa, South Africa; Commercial International Bank, Egypt; Nedbank, South Africa; Rand Merchant Bank, South Africa and Trade and Development Bank.
Development Financial Institution (DFI) of the Year: Afreximbank; Africa Finance Corporation; Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa: BADEA; Lesotho National Development Corporation and Trade and Development Bank.
Fintech of the Year: Ensibuuko Technologies, Uganda; Flutterwave, Nigeria; JUMO World, South Africa; Lulalend, South Africa and MFS Africa, South Africa.
SME Bank of the Year: Absa, South Africa; Caisse de Compensation et de consignation, Tunisia; CRDB Bank, Tanzania; Ecobank, Senegal and KCB Bank, Kenya.
Deal of the Year – Debt: €174 million (US$190 million) investment in the 44MW Singrobo-Ahouaty Project – Africa Finance Corporation; R1.143 billion (US$66.13 million) gender-linked bond (“GLB”) issuance across 3-year and 5-year tranches for Barloworld Limited– Rand Merchant Bank and $564m equivalent private placement green bond issuance for GrowthPoint – Absa.
Others include: Harmony Gold Company syndicated multi-tranche, multi-currency, loan facility of $400 million and R4 billion– Absa & Nedbank and Dual currency $292.4 million, and EGP1.9 billion Syndicated Long Term Facility ($400m) to the Egyptian Chemical Industries Company (KIMA) – National Bank of Egypt.
Deal of the Year – Equity: Advisory on the $2.5 billion initial public offering (IPO) of ADNOC Gas – EFG Hermes; $47 million investment in Africa Go Green – International Finance Corporation (IFC); $298 million Infinity Energy equity investment and Lekela Power acquisition – Africa Finance Corporation; R892 million ($55 million) acquisition of Windlab Africa’s wind and solar assets I partnership with Seriti Resources – Rand Merchant Bank and R8.9bn ($550 million) evergreen B-BBEE transaction for Shoprite– Rand Merchant Bank.
Agriculture deal of the Year: Launch of a first-of-its-kind AgriHarvest Platform – Rand Merchant Bank; $100 million working capital trade finance facility to Export Trading Group (ETG) – Trade and Development Bank; 8 billion EGP (US$266m) Syndicated Long-Term Loan Facility for Evergrow – Banque Misr; Syndicated Long Term Facility $161 million General Authority for Rehabilitation Projects & Agricultural Development (GARPAD) – National Bank of Egypt and $78 million funding facility for the Southern Oil Structured Commodity Finance Transaction – Absa.
Infrastructure deal of the Year: $650m equivalent syndicated loan facility to EDF Renewable – Absa; $21.7m Corporate Sukuk issuance for Family Homes Fund – Greenwich Merchant Bank; $1bn 7-year Amortizing Term Loan in favour of a Special Purpose Vehicle (“SPV”) for NNPC Limited Project Yield – Afreximbank; $900 million debt funding facility for Scatec Solar PV plus Battery Storage Project – Standard Bank and $310 million debt package for the Sports and Roads Infrastructure Kigali – Trade and Development Bank.
African Banker Awards will also host the first AFAWA Bank of the Year Award, which will spotlight the banks advancing women’s financial inclusion across the continent. The AFAWA Bank of the Year Award nominees is Letshego Nigeria, Fin’ELLE, Rawbank, Letshego Uganda and Oiko Credit.
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