Equity Bank has been named the Best Regional Bank in East Africa at the 2021 African Banker Awards.
The bank was recognised for its strong and consistent financial performance, its role in leading the disruption of Fintech innovations in banking and for its consistency in championing the socio-economic development of communities through its various social impact initiatives.
The African Banker Awards had earlier nominated Equity in two additional award categories including Group MD and CEO Dr. James Mwangi as the African Banker of the Year.
Equity was also nominated in the Best Bank in Financial Inclusion Award category.
Despite the challenges posed by the Covid pandemic, Equity bank demonstrated consistent financial performances in all of its subsidiary countries with improvements in revenue, profits, capital, assets and market share.
Notably, in the full year 2020 results, the Group weathered the COVID-19 disruption to register a 51% growth in its balance sheet with total assets growing to USD 9.48 billion up from USD 6.73 in 2019.
Commenting on the award, Equity Group Managing Director and CEO, Dr. James Mwangi stated, “We are honoured and humbled to receive this recognition. This is a testament to the success of our digital strategy and regional presence as we continue to drive financial integration, inclusive banking and to play a catalytic role in championing the socio-economic prosperity of the people of Africa.”
On his part, Omar Ben Yedder, Group Publisher of African Banker 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-19. 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 rate across the continent. 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.”
The Africa Banker Awards has become the most respected and recognised industry event celebrating African banking achievements.
The organisers this year recognised and rewarded institutions that contributed to the real economy, which has suffered from the impact of COVID-19 as well as contributed to the financial empowerment of women in the […]