It was a day of glory for foremost African financial institution; Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) Plc, when it was named the African Bank of the Year at this year’s African Banker Awards.
The award was presented during a prestigious gala dinner held on Wednesday, May 23 in Ahmedabad, India, on the sidelines of the Annual Meeting of African Development Bank.
Now in its 11th year, The African Banker Awards is internationally recognized as the landmark finance event to reward achievements, commend best practices and celebrate excellence in African banking. The award provides a platform to bring together industry leaders from across Africa, celebrate the achievements of those driving economic growth and shaping the future of Africa.
Commenting on the awards ceremony, Publisher of African Banker Magazine; Mr Omar Ben Yedder said “In the year under review, GTBank demonstrated positive results across numerous indices, including a strong balance sheet, growing customer base and a continuous regional expansion. The Bank’s strong performance in 2016 underlined the success of its strategy which was reflected in a Net profit growth of 37% in 2016 despite difficult trading conditions in its main market. He further stated that, “The bank is at the forefront of innovation through simple and accessible digital banking platforms, which allowed it to gain 10 million customers who have long been excluded from banking.
Receiving the award on behalf of the Bank, Segun Agbaje, Managing Director/CEO of GTBank said: “We are honored to be recognized as the best bank in Africa by a globally renowned and well respected magazine. This award is an affirmation of our commitment to creating sustainable value for our customers, shareholders and the communities in which we operate. He added that “Our vision has always been to create an African institution that can compete anywhere in the world in terms of good corporate governance, innovation and superior service delivery, and buoyed by this award, we are determined to consolidate our leading position as Africa’s leading bank by positioning ourselves at the centre of our customers’ social and digital lives to offer them benefits beyond banking. GTBank has consistently played a leading role in Africa’s banking industry and reported the best financial ratios for a Financial Institution in the industry with a return on equity (ROE) of 28.8% and a cost to income ratio of 40.76%, evidencing the efficient management of the banks’ assets. Overall, the Bank has enshrined its position as a clear leader in the industry. In due recognition of the Bank’s leading role in Africa’s banking industry, owing to its bias for world class corporate governance standards and excellent service delivery and innovation, GTBank was recognized in 2016 as the Best Bank in Nigeria by Euromoney, and Best Banking Group Nigeria by World Finance Magazine.
