Two Kenyans vie for 2018 African banker award

May 7, 2018 in Business, Finance, Financial Services by Editor

May 7, 2018— James Mwangi, who chairs Equity Group Holdings Plc and Joshua Oigara, the Group Chief Executive Officer of KCB, have been shortlisted for the African Banker of the Year award with a gala ceremony scheduled for May 22 in Busan, South Korea.

Besides the two Kenyans, other nominees for this prestigious award are  Mohamed El Kettani, the Chairman and CEO of Morocco’s Attijariwafa Bank and Segun Agbaje, the Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank in Nigeria.

Financial institutions in the running for the top bank in Africa include Attijariwafa Bank, (Morocco); Equity Group Holdings (Kenya); Guaranty Trust Bank (Nigeria); The Mauritius Commercial Bank (Mauritius) and Standard Chartered.

During the past three to four years, Equity Group Holdings, has been described as the fastest growing bank in the region, but KCB Group remains the biggest indigenous financier by assets.

Individual recognition will also be given in the categories for the Regional Bank winners, Central Bank Governor of the Year, Finance Minister of the Year and Lifetime Achievement.

Chair of the Awards Committee, Omar Ben Yedder, the Group Publisher and Managing Director of IC Publications Group which publishes African Banker, said he was once again impressed by the quality and breadth of entries this year. “We saw McKinsey earlier in the year releasing a very positive report analysing the banking landscape in Africa. The entries reaffirm their findings when they say Africa’s banking market are amongst the most exciting in the world,” he said.

This year’s shortlist sees another strong year for banks from Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya. Ecobank, Standard Bank and Standard Chartered, which have a large footprint across the continent also feature across several categories.
The Awards, which are hosted by African Banker magazine, will be held during the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB) at the end of May in South Korea.

The full shortlist in all the categories is below;

African Banker of the Year:

Mohamed El Kettani – Attijariwafa Bank, Morocco

James Mwangi – Equity Group Holdings Plc, Kenya

Joshua Oigara – KCB, Kenya

Segun Agbaje – Guaranty Trust Bank, Nigeria

 

African Bank of the Year:

Attijariwafa Bank, Morocco

Equity Group Holdings, Kenya

Guaranty Trust Bank, Nigeria

The Mauritius Commercial Bank, Mauritius

Standard Chartered

Best Retail Bank in Africa:

Barclays, Zambia

Ecobank

KCB, Kenya

Millennium BIM, Mozambique

SBM Holdings, Mauritius

Investment Bank of the Year:

Barclays Africa Group

Exotix

FNBQuest Merchant Bank, Nigeria

Standard Bank

Standard Chartered

Award for Financial Inclusion:

Fourth Generation Capital Limited, Kenya

Groupe Crédit Agricole du Maroc, Morocco

Baobab Group, France

Equity Group, Kenya

JUMO World, South Africa

Award for Innovation in Banking: 

Agricultural Finance Corporation, Kenya

Ubuntu Coin

Banque Nationale pour le Développement Economique, Senegal

Ecobank

SBM Holdings, Mauritius

Socially Responsible Bank of the Year:

Barclays Bank, Zambia

BMCE Bank of Africa, Morocco

Equity Group, Kenya

First Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria

KCB Group, Kenya

Standard Chartered Bank Kenya, Kenya

Deal of the Year – Equity: 

ADES IPO – EFG Hermes, Egypt

First Rand Acquisition of Aldermore PLC – Rand Merchant Bank, South Africa

GAPCO sale to Total – Standard Chartered, South Africa

Long4Life IPO – Standard Bank, South Africa

Steinhoff Africa Retail Listing – Rand Merchant Bank, South Africa

Vodacom Tanzania IPO – National Bank of Commerce and Absa CIB, Tanzania

Deal of the Year – Debt:

$300m Diaspora Bond – Standard Bank/FBNQuest Merchant Bank, Nigeria

$540 First Rand Asia Focused syndication – Standard Chartered, UK

Cape Town Green Bond – RMB, South Africa

Dufil Prima Foods – Standard Bank, South Africa

Nokeng Fluorspar – Fieldstone, South Africa

Viathan – Renaissance Capital, Nigeria

Infrastructure Deal of the Year: 

Nigeria Infrastructure Debt Fund – Chapel Hill Denham, Nigeria

Nacala Railway and Port Corridor – Standard Bank SA / RMB, South Africa

FIRST – Rand Merchant Bank, South Africa

AEE Power Project – RMB, Namibia