The shareholders of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) have given their approval for the bank to raise N600m in fresh capital within the next year.
This decision was made during the 36th annual general meeting and extraordinary general meeting of the bank held in Lome, Togo, which was filed with the Nigerian Exchange Limited on Thursday.
The bank's board of directors also appointed Madiaw Ndiaye as the new chairman of the company, succeeding Alain Nkontchou, who has completed his term in office. Ndiaye is the chief executive officer and founding partner of AFIG Funds, a leading private equity fund management company focused on Africa.
During the extraordinary general meeting, the shareholders authorized the board of directors to raise up to $600m in senior-ranked debt, Tier 2-qualifying subordinated debt, or a combination of these forms of instruments within a period of one year from the date of the meeting.
The shareholders also applauded the bank's strong performance in 2023, with its net revenues exceeding the $2bn mark for the first time in nearly 10 years. The bank's profit before tax rose by eight per cent to $581m from $540m in 2022.
In a statement, the Chief Executive Officer, Jeremy Awori, said, "Ecobank delivered a strong performance in 2023, demonstrating the competitive advantages of our resilient, diversified business model and the early results of our new Growth, Transformation and Returns strategy. We are confident that our strategy is paving the way for our continued success and growth."
The new chairman, Ndiaye, expressed his excitement about working with Awori and the board to steer the bank through the next phase of its journey.
