The winners of the 2020 edition of the African Banker Awards (www.AfricanBankerAwards.com) were announced today during a virtual awards ceremony. The awards ceremony has been postponed to August to coincide with the African Development Bank's annual general meetings taking place this week, with the election of the bank's new president scheduled for tomorrow. The Trophies are considered the Oscars of the African banking community and are the most respected in this sector, due to the impartiality of the selection and decision-making process. This year's big winners are the Nigerian group Access Bank and women in banking and finance. After some lamented that inclusion was not given enough consideration last year, organizers have focused on rewarding institutions that have made women and financial inclusion a priority. Access Bank Group Chief Executive, Herbert Wigwe, has been voted African Banker of the Year. Access ranks among Africa's leading banks and Herbert Wigwe has overseen the growth and expansion of the bank, including the takeover of Diamond Bank, a much larger bank than Access Bank less than 15 years ago. Access Bank also won Agriculture Deal of the Year for its role in developing Olam's rice business in Nigeria. Women were also the big winners of the winners this year. Caroline Abel of Seychelles was named Central Bank Governor of the Year and Nigeria's Zainab Ahmed was named Finance Minister of the Year. The organizers had noted that despite the difficult circumstances, Ms. Ahmed had succeeded in pushing through a series of ambitious reforms and mobilizing international partners to help the country cope with an extremely delicate economic situation. The African Banker Icon trophy was presented to Vivien Shobo, who was chief executive of rating and advisory agency Agusto & Co until last December. She was singled out for playing an instrumental role in the development of Nigeria's credit markets and for helping to grow an excellent organization that now competes with international players with far greater resources. Tunisian pioneer Ahmed Abdelkefi received the Exemplary Career trophy. This businessman and financier was the founder of many companies operating in the field of leasing, brokerage and investment banking. He also founded private equity group Tuninvest and later launched Africinvest, arguably one of Africa's most successful, African-owned private equity firms. The distribution of the other winners was quite balanced. Trade and Development Bank (TDB), a major player in East and Southern Africa, was elected Bank of the Year. It should be noted in passing that its CEO, Admassu Tadesse, won the title of Banker of the Year during the 2019 edition. The organizers have added a number of awards this year to reflect the program of the “High five priorities” of the AfDB. Energy Deal of the Year was awarded to a renewable energy bond structured by Nedbank while Infrastructure Deal of the Year was awarded to the Port of Maputo for a transaction led by Standard Bank. Bank of Industry of Nigeria was named SME Bank of the Year. Omar Ben Yedder, Editor of African Banker, said of this year's awards: “It was a momentous year in every sense of the word. Banks will have to play a leading role in reviving post-Covid growth and supporting the real economy. Governments and regulators have done an excellent job with limited resources and our two laureates, Caroline Abel and Zainab Ahmed, have shown strong leadership in this area. Banks will need to work with institutions and partners to ensure liquidity does not run out. I quote the winner of our Lifetime Achievement Award: 'keep going, move forward, adapt, innovate, take risks, it's your job. Today's crisis is neither the first nor the last, life goes on, the needs of the continent are enormous. Good luck.'". The Trophies were awarded via a virtual ceremony via a youtube channel and other online networks, on the sidelines of the African Development Bank's Annual General Meetings, which are now officially open. Organized under the high patronage of the African Development Bank, the Trophies are sponsored by the African Guarantee Fund as platinum sponsor, the Bank of Industry as gold sponsor and Moza Banco as associate sponsor. The Winners of the African Banker Awards 2020 African Banker of the Year

Herbert Wigwe, Access Bank Exemplary Career

Ahmed Abdelkefi, Founder Tunisia Leasing; Tuninvest; Tunisia Values African Banker Icon

Vivien Shobo, former Managing Director Agusto & Co. African Bank of the Year

Trade and Development Bank (TDB) Finance Minister of the Year

Ms. Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance of Nigeria Central Bank Governor of the Year

Caroline Abel, Governor of the Central Bank of Seychelles Investment Bank of the Year

Citi Financial Inclusion Award

Kenya Women Microfinance SME Bank of the Year

Bank of Industry, Nigeria Socially Responsible Bank of the Year

Equity Bank, Kenya Innovation Trophy

Ecobank Deal of the Year – Equity

IPO MTN Nigeria - Chapel Hill Denham Deal of the Year – Debt

€1 billion syndicated loan facility by Bank of Industry - Bank of Industry / Afreximbank / Credit Suisse Deal of the Year - Infrastructure

Port of Maputo - Standard Bank Energy Project of the Year

Renewable Energy Bond - Nedbank Agriculture Project of the Year

Olam Rice Farm - Access Bank Regional Bank of the Year

East Africa – Equity Bank

West Africa – Coris Bank

North Africa – CIB, Egypt

Southern Africa – Moza Banco, Mozambique

Central Africa – BGFI, Gabon For more information on the African Banker Awards, please visit: www.AfricanBankerAwards.com Distributed by APO Group for IC Publications. Media contact:

[email protected] African Banker:

African Banker (www.AfricanBankerAwards.com) is a quarterly magazine dedicated to banking and finance in Africa. It taps into the growing demand for information about Africa's banking and financial world, a sector that is rapidly consolidating and reshaping the economy of the continent. About IC Events – IC Publications:

IC Publications(www.ICPublications.com) has over 50 years' experience in publishing magazines, newsletters, country supplements, industry reports and market intelligence on Africa. Our market-leading titles (African Business, African Banker, New African, and New African Woman) are published in both English and French, with a combined global readership of over 2,500,000. IC Events(www.IC-Events.net) was established to complement IC Publication's publishing arm. Together with its dedicated team of specialists and extensive network of contacts, IC Events tailors innovative forums, roundtables and workshops responding to the most pressing issues in Africa. IC Events' activities are 100% results-driven, bringing together major stakeholders and partners involved in the topics tackled to achieve concrete action plans.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Alwihda info.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Alwihda info. For any queries regarding this article or any other content requirements, please contact Editor-in-Chief at [email protected]