Shortlist for African Banker Awards announced

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The recently disclosed shortlist reveals the 36 banks and financial institutions in the running for the top prizes for the eighth edition of this competition. The winners will be announced at the prestigious awards ceremony and gala dinner on 21 May in Kigali, Rwanda, during the African Development Bank annual meeting.

Omar Ben Yedder, publisher of African Banker magazine and head of the African Banker Awards committee, was particularly impressed by the entries in the Deal of the Year ('Equity' and 'Debt') categories. "It has been encouraging and fascinating to read the entries in the deal of the year categories, which are the most competitive of the lot.

"The transactions are encouraging because of their level of sophistication and also they highlight the amount of activity now taking place throughout the continent, some of which transformative, such as what we are seeing in the power sector. Also, encouragingly, is the fact that many of these deals are being financed and structured by local African banks in conjunction with global partners."

Rapid development

The African Banker Awards was one of the first events created exclusively for the sector to celebrate and recognise the individuals and financial institutions contributing to the rapid modernisation of Africa's banking sector and to changed perceptions of the continent's domestic and international markets. It remains the only competition event exclusively for the African banking community to be endorsed by the African Development Bank.

"The banking and financial services industry continues to develop rapidly, even if we'd like it to work harder and see it participate more actively in the real economy. It continues to be one of the fastest growing industries and we are pleased to see new entrants coming into the space, something we hope will help to elevate the bar in terms of products and services. This can only work to better serve the interests of the African consumer," Omar Ben Yedder added.

An independent panel of judges will decide the final winners of shortlisted categories.

The shortlist is:

African Bank of the Year

• Attijariwafa Bank, Morocco
  
• BMCE, Morocco
  
• GTBank, Nigeria
  
• Nedbank, South Africa
  
• Standard Bank, South Africa

African Banker of the Year

• Bisi Onasanya, Group MD/CEO, First Bank of Nigeria
  
• Bola Adesola, MD/CEO, Standard Chartered Bank, South Africa
  
• Dr. Charles Kimei, CRDB Bank, Tanzania
  
• Joao Figueiredo, Banco Unico, Mozambique
  
• Pedro Pinto Coelho, CEO, Standard Bank, Angola
  
• Segun Agbaje, MD/CEO, Guaranty Trust Bank, Nigeria
  
• Vivienne Yeda, DG, East African Development Bank, Uganda

Investment Bank of the Year

• EFG Hermes, Egypt
  
• Citi Group, South Africa
  
• FBN Capital, Nigeria
  
• Rand Merchant Bank, South Africa
  
• Vetiva, Nigeria

Award for Innovation in Banking

• Banco Unico, Mozambique
  
• Banque Centrale Populaire, Morocco
  
• Citi, USA
  
• FirstBank, Nigeria
  
• Nedbank, South Africa

Socially Responsible Bank of the Year

• Barclays Africa Group, South Africa
  
• Fidelity Bank, Nigeria
  
• GTBank, Nigeria
  
• Investec Asset Management, South Africa
  
• Nedbank, South Africa

Award for Financial Inclusion

• ACSI, Ethiopia
  
• Barclays, Uganda
  
• Diamond Bank, Nigeria
  
• MasterCard, UAE
  
• Trust Merchant Bank, DR Congo

Deal of the Year - Equity

• Fidelity Bank, Amethis Finance, France
  
• OCI N.V's US$ 10.5bn acquisition offer, Barclays Bank, Egypt
  
• Atlas Mara Co-Nvest - US$325m IPO, Citigroup Global Markets, UK
  
• AECI sale of property assets to Shanghai Zendai, Standard Bank, South Africa
  
• Oando Plc $341 million rights issue on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and JSE Limited, Vetiva, Nigeria

Deal of the Year - Debt

• Republic of South Africa - US$2billion 5.875% Eurobond due 2025, Standard Bank and RMB, UK
  
• Roll-out of Africa's largest petroleum oil refinery and petrochemical/fertilizer plant by Dangote Group, Standard Chartered Bank, UK
  
• Implats Dual Currency Convertible Bond, Standard Bank, South Africa
  
• Project Desert KERL, FBN Capital, Nigeria
  
• $500m financing facility to government of Senegal, Banque Centrale Populaire, Morocco
  
• Avon and Dedisa peaking power transactions, Nedbank Capital, South Africa

Fund of the Year

• Amethis Finance, France
  
• Emerging Capital Partners, UK
  
• Investec Africa Credit Opportunities Fund and Credit Opportunities Fund, UK
  
• Investec Asset Management, South Africa
  
• Standard Chartered Private Equity, South Africa

Best Retail Bank in Africa

• Banque Centrale Populaire, Morocco
  
• GTBank, Nigeria
  
• Nedbank, South Africa
  
• State Bank Mauritius
  
• United Bank for Africa, Nigeria