The Co-operative Bank of Kenya has been recognized as the East African region lender for overall banking performance.
The co-operative-owned firm was named Best Regional Bank in East Africa at the 2022 African Banker Awards, held in Ghana.
Co-op Bank has a presence in South Sudan in addition to Kenya. The bank posted a net profit of Sh5.8 billion in 2022, boosted by non-interest income and cost control.
This is a 65.7 percent increase from a profit after tax of Sh3.5 billion in the first quarter of 2021.
The African Guarantee Fund, Bank of Industry (Nigeria), and the Trade Development Bank and Access Bank sponsored this year’s awards.
The African Development Bank (AfDB), whose annual meetings conclude tomorrow, is the award’s patron.
The African Development Bank is commemorating the 50th anniversary of the African Development Fund, which is undergoing a new replenishment round.
In his speech, Omar Ben Yedder, chair of the African Banker Awards Organising Committee and publisher of African Banker magazine stated that Africa should focus its efforts on boosting its local capacities to finance growth.
“We need strong institutions and we need to start with our commercial and development banks, if we have learned anything from the past two years, and even more so these last two months, it is that we need to achieve financial sovereignty if we are to own our growth agenda,” he said.
Women were named African Banker Icon and Finance Minister of the Year.
Vera Songwe, UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa received the African Banker Icon Award for her hard work in giving governments fiscal weapons to deal with the impact of Covid-19.
Vera Esperança dos Santos Daves de Sousa, Finance Minister of Angola, was named Finance Minister of the Year for her exceptional work in restoring stability and market confidence in her country.
Michael Atingi-Ego, Uganda’s Deputy Central Bank Governor, was named Central Bank Governor of the Year.
Emmanuel Tumusiime Mutebile, the bank’s governor, died earlier this year, creating a vacuum that will be difficult to fill.
Equity Bank, a rank One bank, received the honor the previous year.
Conversely, the Central Bank of Uganda, one of the year’s standout performers, has managed to contain inflation and establish currency stability in an exceptionally difficult situation.
Atedo Peterside, the founder of IBTC Bank, which he merged with Stanbic 15 years ago, received the Lifetime Achievement Award for his services to banking.
IBTC’s success, he claims, is based on everyone believing in the bank’s objective and sharing common values and culture.