Ekpe, Agbaje, others bag AfDB's awards

TWO Nigerians, Arnold Ekpe and Olusegun Agbaje, yesterday, bagged two prestigious awards at the yearly bankers award held in Arusha, Tanzania.Access Bank Plc won the Best Operating Bank in West Africa at the sixth edition of the African Bankers award organised by the African Development Bank (AfDB).Ekpe, the outgoing Group Managing Director of Ecobank Transnational was honoured with a Lifetime Achievement award, while Agbaje, the Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), Nigeria took the African Banker of the Year price.Agbaje was presented with his trophy by Tim Turner, the Director of the Private Sector Operations of AfDB.Ecobank also won the African Bank of the Year in a keen competition with six other banks that contested in the category.Ecobank, which got a strong endorsement during the AfDB's meeting by signing a $250 million investment agreement with the South Africa's Public Investment Corporation,also received commendations for its expansion as the pan African bank.Under the best regional bank category, Attijariwafa Bank, Morocco won the North African award; BGFI, Gabon for Central Africa; Bank of Kigali, Rwanda for East Africa, while BCI, Mozambique emerged winner in Southern Africa region.The Founder and Managing Director of the Ethiopia Commodities Exchange, Dr Eleni Gabre-Mahdin, also won the African Banker Icon Award, along with Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Adebayo Ogunlesi.NAN reports that the prestigious pan African ceremony was witnessed by the Gambian Minister of Finance, Mambury Njie, Minister of Finance, Rwanda, John Rwangombwa, Tunisian Central Bank Governor,Dr Mustapha Kamel Nabli, Kenyan Central Bank Governor, Prof. Njuguna Ndung'u.Other were the Director-General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Nigeria, Ms Arunma Oteh, and BBC World News presenter, Zeinab Badawi, among other guests.The Publisher of African Banker magazine, Omar Ben Yedder, said: 'We have recognised some superb individuals and institutions tonight. Africa's financial sector is a major vehicle for driving the economic growth that has become the talk of the investor community around the world.'Yedder explained that the awards were for Africans who wereprepared to take the 'bull by the horn' and carry out well thought out visions to raise the development bar and in some cases,taken difficult decisions to deliver on their agenda.
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