| Ecobank now in 22
countries
By IKENNA EMEWU
Saturday, March
15, 2008
Africa’s dominant financial brand, Ecobank Transnational
Incorporated now has branches in 22 African countries following
the opening of two new subsidiaries in Malawi and Congo-Brazzaville.
With this development, the Ecobank Group no doubt is the clear
leader in regional banking on the Africa continent.
While announcing the opening of the new subsidiaries, Ecobank
Group’s Chief Executive Officer, Arnold Ekpe, said the
development signals further the management’s commitment
to bring Ecobank to the citizens of target countries, while
opening up the group to meet the challenges of globalization.
He said: “we remain committed to our African roots and
to Africa’s development”.
The new subsidiary in Pointe Noire, Congo-Brazzaville is Ecobank’s
fifth affiliate in Central Africa and represents an important
step towards the bank’s objective of covering the whole
region.
However, Ecobank’s acquisition of a majority interest
in Loita Bank Malawi, a subsidiary of Loita Capital Partners
International, significantly extends the Ecobank’s Group
reach to southern Africa markets.
Loita Bank Limited has been a longstanding provider of financial
services, specializing in structured finance and trade finance
services in Malawi.
According to Ekpe, expanding to Malawi is in line with the
bank’s overall objective to expand its operations across
middle Africa. He maintained that with its entry into Malawi,
the Group is determined to develop Ecobank Malawi into a leading
and profitable bank that will play its role in the economic
development of that country.
Albert Essien, the Ecobank Regional Director in charge of
Eastern and Southern Africa, added that “Ecobank will
seek to provide enhanced products and services to its customers
in Malawi.’
In addition to Congo-Brazzaville and Malawi, the Group is
presently in 20 other countries that include Benin Republic,
Burkina-Faso, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic,
Chad, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Conakry,
Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao
Tome, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo.
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) was incorporated
in 1985, and remains the parent company of the largest independent
regional banking group in Africa. ETI is listed on the Stock
Exchanges in Nigeria, Ghana, and the Abidjan Securities: Bourse
Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières (BRVM). The
Group has over 8,000 employees in over 450 branches in its
affiliate countries.
Ecobank is a full-service bank providing wholesale, retail,
investment and transaction banking services and products to
governments, financial institutions, multinationals, international
organisations, medium, small and micro businesses and individuals.
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