Shortlist Announced for the African Banker Awards 2014

London, 30th May - Attijariwafa Bank, Standard Bank, GTBank, and Nedbank are among the shortlisted finalists for the African Banker magazine's 2014 African Banker Awards. The recently disclosed shortlist reveals the 36 banks and financial institutions in the running for the top prizes available for the eighth edition of this competition. The final winners will be announced at the prestigious Awards ceremony and gala dinner on the 21st May in Kigali, Rwanda, during the African Development Bank Annual Meetings.

Omar Ben Yedder, Group Publisher of African Banker magazine and head of the African Banker Awards Committee, was particularly impressed by the entries in the Deal of the Year ("Equity” and "Debt”) categories stating: "It has been encouraging and fascinating to read the entries in the deal of the year categories, which are the most competitive of the lot. The transactions are encouraging because of their level of sophistication and also they highlight the amount of activity now taking place throughout the continent, some of which transformative, such as what we are seeing in the power sector. Also, encouragingly, is the fact that many of these deals are being financed and structured by local African banks in conjunction with global partners.”

The African Banker Awards was one of the first events created exclusively for the sector to celebrate and recognise the individuals and financial institutions contributing to the rapid modernisation of Africa's banking sector and to changed perceptions of the continent's domestic and international markets. It remains the only competition event exclusively for the African banking community to be endorsed by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the High Patron of the event. The AfDB, celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, will hold their Annual Meetings in Kigali, Rwanda from the 19th – 23rd May 2014.

Commenting on the industry as a whole Omar Ben Yedder, Publisher of African Banker magazine, added: "the banking and financial services industry continues to develop rapidly, even if we'd like it to work harder and see it participate more actively in the real economy. It continues to be one of the fastest growing industries and we are pleased to see new entrants coming into the space, something we hope will help to elevate the bar in terms of products and services. This can only work to better serve the interests of the African consumer.”

The African Banker Awards is organised by African Banker magazine and BusinessinAfrica Events.

A distinguished and independent panel of judges, known and respected for their expertise on the African banking and finance industry, will decide the final winners of shortlisted categories.

The Awards are sponsored by East African Development Bank as Regional Host, Emerging Markets Payments as Platinum Sponsor and Mastercard as Lead Sponsor.

Other sponsors and supporters include Banque Centrale Populaire, BGFI Bank, GTBank, Development Bank of Rwanda, Bank of Kigali, Oracle Financial Services, Bank of Industry, Ecobank Nedbank Alliance, Travelex, CRDB Bank, Wavetec, Amethis Finance, FirstBank Nigeria, the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, BFI, RSwitch, Rwanda Bankers' Association and Rwanda Development Board.

Shortlist:

African Bank of the Year

Attijariwafa Bank, Morocco
BMCE, Morocco
GTBank, Nigeria
Nedbank, South Africa
Standard Bank, South Africa

African Banker of the Year

Bisi Onasanya, Group MD/CEO, First Bank of Nigeria
Bola Adesola, MD/CEO, Standard Chartered Bank, South Africa
Dr. Charles Kimei, CRDB Bank, Tanzania
Joao Figueiredo, Banco Unico, Mozambique
Pedro Pinto Coelho, CEO, Standard Bank, Angola
Segun Agbaje, MD/ CEO, Guaranty Trust Bank, Nigeria
Vivienne Yeda, Director General, East African Development Bank, Uganda

Investment Bank of the Year

EFG Hermes, Egypt
Citi Group, South Africa
FBN Capital, Nigeria
Rand Merchant Bank, South Africa
Vetiva, Nigeria

Award for Innovation in Banking

Banco Unico, Mozambique
Banque Centrale Populaire, Morocco
Citi, USA
FirstBank, Nigeria
Nedbank, South Africa

Socially Responsible Bank of the Year

Barclays Africa Group, South Africa
Fidelity Bank, Nigeria
GTBank, Nigeria
Investec Asset Management, South Africa
Nedbank, South Africa

Award for Financial Inclusion

ACSI, Ethiopia
Barclays, Uganda
Diamond Bank, Nigeria
MasterCard, UAE
Trust Merchant Bank, DR Congo

Deal of the Year - Equity

"Fidelity Bank”, Amethis Finance, France
"OCI N.V's US$ 10.5bn acquisition offer”, Barclays Bank, Egypt
"Atlas Mara Co-Nvest – US$325m IPO”, Citigroup Global Markets, UK
"AECI sale of property assets to Shanghai Zendai”, Standard Bank, South Africa
"Oando Plc $341 million rights issue on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and JSE Limited,” Vetiva, Nigeria

Deal of the Year - Debt

"Republic of South Africa – US$2billion 5.875% Eurobond due 2025”, Standard Bank and RMB, UK
"Roll-out of Africa's largest petroleum oil refinery and petrochemical/fertilizer plant by Dangote Group”, Standard Chartered Bank, UK
"Implats Dual Currency Convertible Bond”, Standard Bank, South Africa
"Project Desert KERL”, FBN Capital, Nigeria
"$500m financing facility to Government of Senegal”, Banque Centrale Populaire, Morocco
"Avon and Dedisa peaking power transactions”, Nedbank Capital, South Africa

Fund of the Year

Amethis Finance, France
Emerging Capital Partners, UK
Investec Africa Credit Opportunities Fund and Credit Opportunities Fund. UK
Investec Asset Management, South Africa
Standard Chartered Private Equity, South Africa

Best Retail Bank in Africa

Banque Centrale Populaire, Morocco
GTBank, Nigeria
Nedbank, South Africa
State Bank Mauritius
United Bank for Africa, Nigeria