President of African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), Dr. Benedict Oramah, has been named African Banker of the Year at the African Banker Awards 2017 ceremony, in India.
A statement by Afreximbank, in Lagos, on Wednesday, said that the award was presented on Tuesday at a ceremony on the sidelines of the Annual Meetings of African Development Bank.
The bank said that the award was given to a banker who, through leadership and vision, had overseen strong financial performance within his or her organisation.
“Such a banker would also have successfully guided that institution to new heights in the industry”.
In his acceptance speech, Oramah, a Nigerian, said that he was able to win the award as a result of the dedicated work of the staff of Afreximbank.
He said the staff had put in sustained efforts and made sacrifices to enable the bank continue performing in order to meet the challenges confronting Africa in the area of trade.
Other nominees for the award included Segun Agbaje of GTB in Nigeria, Jeremy Awori of Barclays Bank in Kenya, Dr Charles Kimei of CRDB Bank in Tanzania, James Mwangi of Equity Bank in Kenya and Joshua Nyamweya Olgara of KCB in Kenya.
Also at the ceremony, Guaranty Trust Bank of Nigeria was named African Bank of the Year, Rameswurlall Basant Roi, Governor of Central Bank of Mauritius, was named Central Bank Governor of the Year, while Rand Merchant Bank in South Africa was named Investment Bank of the Year.
Other winners included Equity Bank of Kenya as the Best Retail Bank, MasterCard and Ecobank were named for Innovation in Banking.
Waheed Olagunju of Bank of Industry in Nigeria was named African Banker Icon, while Amadou Ba, Minister of Finance of Senegal was named the Finance Minister of the Year.
According to Afreximbank, the African Banker Awards were introduced to recognise reforms, rapid modernisation and expansion of banking and finance in Africa.
“The awards reward the outstanding achievements of companies and individuals that have changed the perception of Africa’s potentials in domestic and international markets”.