Winners of the 2017 African Banker awards have been announced at an event in India. The awards held annually on the fringes of the Annual Meetings of the African Development Bank, celebrates excellence in banking and finance on the African continent.
According to a statement, no country dominated the awards this year.Â
It revealed that the President of Afreximbank, Dr. Benedict Oramah won ‘Banker of the Year. Also, GTBank beat off competition from five shortlisted nominees to win the coveted ‘African Bank of the Year Award’. The ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ was presented to an institution for the first time, as opposed to an individual.
“This was recognition to the outstanding contribution to African banking that Citi as an organisation had done since it has started operating in Africa and in shaping some of Africa’s leading bankers, many of who have led the growing number of African financial institutions across the continent,” the statement added.Â
In addition, the acting CEO and Managing Director of Bank of Industry, Waheed A. Olagunju, was honouredwith this year’s ‘African Banker Icon’ award, which recognises a banking career that spans over two decades.
Commenting on the ceremony, Publisher of African Banker, Omar Ben Yedder said: “This year’s entries in the financial inclusion and innovation categories were particularly encouraging. Financial inclusion is possibly the single most important priority so that we can mobilisefunds and make this capital to work effectively. Banks are at the centre at this and rising to the challenge.â€
