Access Bank CEO Wins Again At African Banker Awards

Posted on June 24, 2021

The Group CEO of Nigeria’s Access Bank, Herbet Wigwe has won the African Banker of the Year award at the African Banker magazine’s 2021 Awards.

African Banker magazine announced the winners of its 2021 Awards at a virtual ceremony held on the side-lines of the African Development Bank’s 2021 Annual Meetings. The African Development Bank is a high patron of the event on Wednesday.

The award for African Banker of the Year went, for the second consecutive year, to Wigwe, Managing Director and co-founder of Access Bank Group, which has grown rapidly to become one of the largest retail banks in Africa over the last decade, with over 40 million customers.

Meanwhile, Standard Bank Group was named African Bank of the Year by African Banker magazine in recognition of the banking giant’s achievements in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic and empowering women.

The 2021 virtual event featured performances by African diva Angelique Kidjo and Adina, a Ghanaian-South African singer.

The 2021 edition of the awards set out to recognize institutions that have contributed to women’s empowerment on the continent and to the real economy, which has suffered from the impact of Covid-19.

Morocco’s Minister of Economy and Finance, Mohammed Benchaâboun, was named Finance Minister of the Year in recognition of his ministry’s exemplary response to the economic crisis brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Omar Ben Yedder, Group Publisher of African Banker, commended the banking sector for its responsiveness to clients’ needs, and for setting up gender programs, supporting women-led businesses and promoting women within their organizations.

“Fintechs are really the flavor of the year and we’ve seen plenty of money from venture capital, from private equity wealth, going into the fintech space in Egypt, Kenya and in Nigeria, and to some extent crypto and blockchain, although those are at very early stages,” Ben Yedder said.

The continued strength and resilience of the banking sector would be critical to support economic recovery from the pandemic across Africa, he said.

Complete list of 2021 African Banker Award winners:

Sustainable bank of the year

Commercial International Bank (CIB) Egypt

Infrastructure deal of the year

Tanzania Standard Gauge Railway $1.46bn loan facility

Nedbank | Standard Chartered | TDB

Deal of the year – Equity

Privatization of Afam Power Plc and Afam Three Fast Power Ltd

FBNQuest

Deal of the year – Debt

African Export-Import Bank, COVID-19 Support Facility