Innovation and resilience shine through at 2021 African Banker Awards
For eight years the African Banker Awards have been celebrating the achievements of Africa’s banks in modernising and expanding Africa’s banking system. African Business reports on the highlights of this year’s edition
The winners of the 2021 edition of the African Banker Awards were announced on 23 June at a virtual awards ceremony. Since 2013, the Awards have been held during the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank, the event’s high patron, which also took place virtually this year (see pages 64-65).
The Awards have become the most respected and recognised industry event celebrating African banking achievements. In the face of the downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the organisers this year put an emphasis on recognising and rewarding institutions that have contributed to recovery in the real economy as well as those that are helping to empower women on the continent.
Herbert Wigwe, CEO and group managing director of Access Bank, won the African Banker of the Year award for the second consecutive year. Access Bank is now present in South Africa following its acquisition of Grobank. As a result of its rapid growth over the last decade, Access Bank has become one of the largest retail banks in Africa with over 40m customers.
“We can create an institution that will over time compete with the largest players in the world, whether it’s HSBC or Citibank or JP Morgan. One day it will happen,” said Wigwe, speaking via video link during the ceremony.
Cushioning the impact of the pandemic
Morocco’s minister of economy and finance, Mohammed Benchaâboun, won Finance Minister of the Year. He was recognised for the exceptional work of his ministry, which coordinated an exemplary response to the economic impact of the crisis, helping to protect both lives and livelihoods. The fiscal stimulus provided has cushioned the impact of the pandemic. The ministry managed to crowd in both public and private sector resources that were used to support the most needy.
“There were 100,000 credit lines guaranteed by the state, covering $8bn, and there were 5m households that were helped during the pandemic,” said the minister, speaking from Morocco.
He said that the creation of an Economic Watch Committee, which brought together the private and public sectors, created a way to work together intel
ligently and mobilise resources for the benefit of social and economic development.
“Something that would have taken months, or even years, was made possible within the framework of this new way of working,” he explained.
Lesetja Kganyago, governor of the Reserve Bank of South Africa, was awarded the Central Bank Governor of the year. Under his leadership, the Reserve Bank has managed to act decisively but also, the Committee noted, in a measured way, managing both upside and downside risk.
Financing the future
Felix Bikpo, who recently stepped down as CEO of the African Guarantee Fund (AGF), earned the Lifetime Achievement award for his long and distinguished career.
When asked about his greatest achievement he said that it was the creation of the AGF.
“The best way to use your money is to finance the future big companies of a continent,” he said. “The best way to fight and to get a better market in the future is to allow these SMEs to be able to play their role. That’s what we did at AGF and at AGF, I was so happy to be able to put in place a strong business model strategy that gave trust to the financial sector in the continent.”
When asked for his outlook on the future of the continent, he remained upbeat, saying that technological developments and the human capabilities developed in Africa are cause for optimism.
Charlie Robertson, chief economist at international investment bank Renaissance Capital, won the African Banker Icon category. In his remarks he noted that it was important to drive up savings rates to help spur greater investments on the continent, if Africa is to replicate the Asian miracle.
An impressive year
Omar Ben Yedder, group publisher of African Banker magazine said: “I was really impressed by the entries this year. It showed that the banking sector is healthy and resilient, which will be critical if it is to support the economic recovery post Covid.
“What will be fundamental to our recovery is the support of the real economy, especially SMEs, and also a focus on more equity investments and investments in general. For that, as our African Banker Icon suggested, we will also need to increase our savings rates across the continent.
“If I had one comment on the winners, it was dominated by men this year. However I should add that the institutions that were recognised in our ceremony all had strong gender programmes, both in terms of supporting women-led businesses but also strong programmes to promote women and have women leaders within their organisations.”
This year the Awards were sponsored by the African Guarantee Fund, Bank of Industry (Nigeria), Banque du Développement du Mali and technology partner TagPay. ■
View the ceremony on YouTube via https://bit.ly/35RLTVK
For further information, visit www.africanbankerawards.com