By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) on Wednesday night won the African Bank of the Year Award during the African Banker Awards 2019 ceremony held on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank.
A statement made available in Abuja on Thursday said, Amr Kamel, Afreximbank’s Executive Vice President for Business Development and Corporate Banking received the award on behalf of the Bank.
According to the statement, the award was one of two big ones that went to development finance institutions even as Admassu Tadesse, President of Trade Development Bank, was also named African Banker of the Year.
The organisers, while explaining the essence of award to Afreximbank, said in the past 18 months, the Bank had launched a number of game-changing products.
According to them, the African Bank of the Year award is presented to the bank in Africa that has demonstrated a high performance across various metrics and which has considerably changed the banking landscape by reaching out to new customers, offering new services and helping to drive growth through a stronger financial sector.
Other awards given out during the ceremony included: Central Bank Governor of the Year presented by to the awardee Tarek Amer of the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) by Mr. Kamel; Lifetime Achievement to former First Rand Group CEO Sizwe Nxasana; African Banker Icon to Mitchell Elegbe, founder of Interswitch; Finance Minister of the Year to Romuald Wadagni of Benin; Investment Bank of the Year to Absa; and Retail Bank of the year to Ecobank.
CBE is one of the biggest beneficiaries of Afreximbank’s funded financing, especially, its Counter-Cyclical Trade Liquidity Facility under which it availed CBE financing during the recent economic reforms in Egypt.
The African Banker Awards, organized annually by IC Publications, celebrate excellence in banking and finance on the African continent.
Afreximbank delegation present at the award ceremony included, Rene Awambeng, Global Head, Client Relations; Kudakwashe Matereke, Regional Chief Operating Officer, East Africa; Humphrey Nwugo, Regional Chief Operating Officer, Southern Africa; Mhamed Laraqui, Head of Equity Mobilization and Investor Relations; Andrew Alwiga, of the Treasury Services Department; Manal Mounir of the Communications and Events Department; and Farida Andrawis of the Client Relations Department.
