Ecobank, the leading pan-African banking group, has been named “Best Trade Finance Bank in West Africa” at the prestigious “Leaders in Trade Awards” of Global Trade Review.
This prize rewards Ecobank’s solutions for the financing of domestic and regional supply chains through the main trade corridors, as well as its role as an arranger and its participation in the financing of agricultural campaigns in West Africa, covering in particular the cotton, cocoa, soybeans and cashew nuts.
“To the solutions offered by Ecobank is added the state-of-the-art ‘E-trade’ module on our Omni Plus platform. Our products are designed to help our Corporate and Investment Bank clients as well as our SME clients to take advantage of the opportunities offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area and thus develop intra-African trade”, indicates the press release from the pan-African banking group sent to AFRIMAG. The jury also praised the business development services of Ecobank, which enabled the bank to obtain a significant market share on letters of credit issued across the continent, notably relying on its Parisian subsidiary, Ecobank International. , for their confirmations, payments and discounts.
« As the pan-African bank with the densest network on the continent, one of Ecobank’s key ambitions is to become the bank of choice for SMEs and large corporations in the area of trade finance. We want to enable them to seize the huge growth opportunities that the African Continental Free Trade Area brings,” comments Souleymane Diagne, Ecobank Group Trade Finance Director. And to specify: This award given by Global Trade Review demonstrates the impact we are having in trade finance through our suite of products and solutions, including structured commodity trade finance, signature commitments and supply chain finance. For our customers and partners in West Africa and across Sub-Saharan Africa, we are committed to continuing to create value through our trade finance and multi-currency payments solutions, leveraging our expertise Africa and the advantage of our network”.
In their decision to nominate Ecobank as the best trade finance bank in West Africa, the Global Trade Review panel members considered the full range of trade finance products offered by Ecobank, their impact and performance in structured commodity trade finance, supply chain finance and the availability of dedicated digital trade platforms in each of the 15 West African countries in which Ecobank operates.
The announcement of the award was made at Global Trade Review’s annual awards ceremony held in London last month.