Women grabbed two of the most prestigious decorations at the African Banker Awards that took place in Accra Ghana yesterday.
United Nations Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, Ms Vera Songwe was awarded the African Banker Icon Award whilst the other woman Angola’s Minister, Vera Esperança dos Santos Daves de Sousa got Africa’s Finance Minister of the Year 2022.
Songwe got the Icon award for her tireless work in providing governments with the fiscal ammunition to deal with the impact of COVID-19.
de Sousa’s recognition came for her stand-out work in restoring stability and market confidence in her country.
Accepting the award Songwe spoke of Africa’s resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It really was a moment to demonstrate that Africa is resilient. I came to the table with an understanding of the menu of solutions because in 2008 I was on the other side [of the table] when SDRs were handed out to European economies [to stave off a financial crisis] …”
The Executive Secretary said ECA is focusing on at the ECA is prosperity.
“The ingredients are there for success; there is latent innovation; what we need to do is provide the infrastructure; the soft infrastructure, the hard infrastructure and the human capital to deliver the end game which is jobs, prosperity and a better life for all.”
The Central Bank Governor of the Year award, however, went to the Deputy Central Bank Governor, Uganda Michael Atingi-Ego after having managed to stave off inflation and achieve currency stability in an extremely challenging environment.
A Nigerian banker Atedo Peterside scooped the Lifetime Achievement Award for his contribution to banking.
Benedict Oramah won African Banker of the Year for his work in growing Afreximbank’s balance sheet.
The Standard Bank Group received the African Bank of the Year award for the second year running as the continent’s largest bank by assets and also by tier one capital.
No Zimbabwean citizen or grown institution managed to get an award in 2022.
The following are some of the winners of the African Banker Awards:
Energy Deal of the Year: Temane Thermal Power Station from Absa Mozambique and International Finance Corporation
Agriculture Deal of the Year: US $200 Million corporate facility (the “Facility”) to BUA Industries Limited (“BIL”) | Africa Finance Corporation
Infrastructure Deal of the Year: The Luanda Bita Water Supply Project | African Trade Insurance Agency
Debt Deal of the Year: BANK OF INDUSTRY €750 Million Debut Senior Note Participation Notes due 2027 | Bank of Industry
Equity Deal of the Year: Prosus’ c. US$15 Billion Accelerated Equity Offering in Tencent | Citi
Sustainable Bank of the Year: Trade and Development Bank
FinTech of the Year: Interswitch
Award for Financial Inclusion: Tugende Uganda
SME Bank of the Year: Ecobank
DFI of the Year: Trade and Development Bank
Yaw Kuffour Award for Trade Finance: Coris Bank
Best Regional Bank – North Africa: National Bank of Egypt
Best Regional Bank – Southern Africa: Mauritius Commercial Bank
Best Regional Bank – West Africa: Fidelity Bank, Ghana
Best Regional Bank – East Africa: Co-Operative Bank of Kenya
Best regional Bank – Central Africa: Raw Bank, DRC
