We've a role to play- Ecobank

Pg 33 (Business) Wed. May 21/08

Story Rebecca Quaicoe Duho

ECOBANK Transnational Incorporated (ETI) is positioning itself to play a lead role in the economic development of the African continent, Mr Arnold Ekpe, the Chief Executive Officer of the pan-African bank, has stated.
He said the bank represented the future of the continent and, therefore, it had a duty to fulfil.
Mr Ekpe was speaking at a non deal road show and Facts Behind the Figures organised by the Ghana Stock Exchange in Accra yesterday to give detailed operational performance of the bank to the investing public.
The ETI is listed on three stock exchanges — the Ghana Stock Exchange, the Nigeria Stock Exchange and the Cote d’Ivoire Stock Exchange — and it has operations in 22 countries across the continent.
The pan-African bank has the dual mission to build a world-class African bank and to contribute to the economic and financial development of the African continent.
The non deal road show was aimed at alerting the investing public to the intention to raise $3 billion through the capital market to grow the bank’s books and improve the capital base of its 22 subsidiaries across the African continent.
Speaking at the annual general meeting in Accra last Friday, the Board Chairman of the bank, Mr Mande Sidibe, said the proposed additional capital was in line with its growth strategy and said the rights issue was also to ensure the active trading of the shares of the company and make it more liquid and accessible to the ordinary African shareholder.
Giving the financial performance of the bank over the 2007 year, Mr Sidibe stated that the year under review saw the bank recording an impressive financial performance.
He said profit after tax increased by 61 per cent to $139 million from the $86.4 million recorded in 2006, while total assets grew by 87 per cent to $6.6 billion from the previous year’s $3.5 billion
Mr Sidibe also stated that revenues increased by 56 per cent to $544 from $348 million in 2006.
“Our performance in 2007 continued the positive trend of the previous year,” he stated, adding that “in spite of the significant investments in growth, we were able to maintain our return on equity at 24 per cent”.
The board chairman said 2007 was a year of transformation for the bank as the group reached new levels and the bank successfully positioned the group as the leading pan-African group with an unparalleled reach and a unique operating platform.