Nominees announced for 2021 African Banker Awards

African Banker magazine today announced the shortlist of nominees for this year’s edition of the African Banker Awards. The Awards have become the most respected and recognised industry event celebrating African banking achievements.  They are held during the Annual meetings of the African Development Bank, the event’s High patron, and, this year are sponsored by the African Guarantee Fund, Bank of Industry (Nigeria), Banque du Développement du Mali and TagPay.

Celebrating the Banking industry across the African continent, the African Banker Awards ceremony will be live-streamed on Wednesday, 23 June 2021.

The Standard Bank group leads in the number of nominations with 8 entries in 7 categories, including African Bank of the Year and Investment Bank of the Year. The Eastern and Southern African Trade & Development Bank, TDB, also featured high with 5 nominations, including a nomination for Admassu Tadesse, President & CEO, for African Banker of the Year.

Omar Ben Yedder, Group Publisher of African Banker said: “This year we received a record number of entries across all categories and the awards committee debated at length to select the shortlist. Common themes throughout were the rise of digitisation, the work the banks have done to support businesses of all sizes during the pandemic and the importance of innovation. All the entries received demonstrated the incredible resilience of the banking and financial services industry during these challenging times and how important the industry is to help soften the economic impact of the pandemic and support growth whilst leading on innovation to provide solutions to our businesses and communities.”

This year’s judge panels consists of experts on project finance, investment and banking, representing all African regions, including Rebecca Enonchong, CEO of AppsTech; Zemedeneh Negatu, Global Chairman of Fairfax Africa Fund; Tom Minney, Editor of African Council Markets News; Toyin Sanni, Group CEO of Emerging Africa Capital, Jean-Louis Ekra, Board Member of British Globeleq Group; Vivien Shobo, CEO of  FVS Advisory Partners; Alain Le Noir,  Co-Founder of Club des Banques et Etablissements Financiers Africains; and Christopher Hartland-Peel, Principal of Hartland-Peel Africa Equity Research.

In addition to the nominations listed below, the African Banker ceremony will include special recognitions including the Lifetime Achievement Award, Banker Icon Award, Minister of Finance of the Year Award and Regional Banking Awards.

For more information on the African Banker Awards 2021 visit: https://www.africanbankerawards.com

Please see below the full list of nominees per category:

African Banker of the Year Award

• Ade Ayeyemi (Ecobank Transnational Inc.)
• Admassu Tadesse (TDB)
• Brehima Amadou Haidara (Banque de Développement du Mali)
• Herbert Wigwe (Access Bank)
• James Mwangi (Equity Group Holdings Plc.)
• João Figueiredo (MozaBanco)
• Kennedy Uzoka (United Bank for Africa)

African Bank of the Year Award

• African Export-Import Bank – Afreximbank
• Attijariwafa Bank
• Banque Centrale Populaire
• Commercial International Bank (CIB)
• Equity Group Holdings Plc.
• Standard Bank Group
• Trade and Development Bank
• Zenith Bank

Investment Bank of the Year Award

• ABSA
• EFG Hermes
• FBNQuest
• Misr Capital S.A.E.
• Standard Bank of South Africa

SME Bank of the Year Award

• 4G Capital
• Access Bank
• Ecobank
• FCMB
• Fidelity Bank

Sustainable Bank of the Year Award

• Access Bank
• Banque Ouest Africaine de Développement (BOAD)
• Commercial International Bank (CIB)
• Nedbank
• Trade and Development Bank (TDB)

Financial Inclusion Award

• EFG Hermes
• Equity Bank
• Jumo
• Trust Merchant Bank, DRC
• Zeepay

Innovation in Financial Services Award

• Bank of Industry
• Crowdyvest
• Ecobank Transnational Inc
• Mortgage Market
• Sterling Bank
• Ubuntu Tribe
• United Bank for Africa

Deal of the Year Award – Agriculture

• Cairo Three A Poultry (Banque Misr)
• Distribuidora Nacional de Açúcar Mozambique (Standard Bank Group)
• Rand Agri Debt Financing – Our Global Commodity Finance and Export Credit Finance (Nedbank)
• US$28 million Medium Term Facility to GB Foods Africa (Stanbic IBTC Capital Limited)
• USD 400m Revolving Trade Finance Facility in favour of ETG Group (African Export-Import Bank – Afreximbank)

Deal of the Year Award – Debt

• AFC’s inaugural green CHF150m 1.2050%, 5-year benchmark (Renaissance Capital)
• African Export-Import Bank, COVID-19 Support Facility (MUFG Bank)
• Dangote Cement PLC $208mn (N100bn) Series 1 Bond (FBNQuest)
• Teraco Data Environments Proprietary Limited (ABSA)
• The African Local Currency Bond Fund Investment in Sonatel Local Currency Bond Issuance (The African Local Currency Bond Fund)
• US$1billion Syndicated Guaranteed Loan Facility (Bank of Industry / Stanbic IBTC / Afreximbank)
• Wood Technology Company (Banque Misr)

Deal of the Year Award – Energy

• Alten Kenya Solarfarms (Standard Bank Group)
• ANOH Gas Processing Company (Rand Merchant Bank / Jackson, Etti & Edu)
• BBOXX DRC (Lion’s Head Global Partners)
• Nkhotakota Solar Power Plant in Malawi / 7.5 MW Solar PV Power Plant in Burundi (African Trade Insurance Agency)
• USD 353 million (EUR 300 m) Sovereign guaranteed loan to Societe Tunisienne de l’Electricite et du Gaz (EBRD)

Deal of the Year Award – Equity

• Brait SE Equity Capital Raise (Rand Merchant Bank)
• Fawry Accelerated Offering (EFG Hermes)
• Privatization of Afam Power Plc and Afam Three Fast Power Limited (FBNQuest)
• Structuring and establishment of the Acorn Holdings Limited (AHL) student accommodation Real Estate Investment Trusts (Renaissance Capital)
• Togo Republic long-term and strategic partnership with Olam International Limited (Southbridge)

Deal of the Year Award – Infrastructure

• Alexandria Port Authority (Banque Misr)
• Kigali’s King Faisal Hospital (TDB)
• TAV Airports Holdings Restructure (Standard Bank Group)
• Tanzania, Standard Gauge Railway (Standard Chartered / Nedbank / TDB)
• Zimborders Mauritius (Standard Bank Group)