Equity Bank is a true Kenyan success story.

Founded in 1984 as Equity Building Society, equity bank is now home to 2.5m clients, 35% of the total bank accounts in Kenya, with a proven track record in Microfinance banking.

The initial focus at foundation was to offer mortgage services but in the early 1990s Equity Building Society changed its focus to micro-finance services. EBS grew to become a leading micro finance institution providing a wide range of products and services. Equity Bank business model has attracted both local and international recognition.

Throughout its existence as a microfinance bank, Equity Bank has been a pioneer in bringing innovative solutions to the African challenge. It was the first to bring mobile banks to some of the most isolated parts of rural Kenya that have no access to commercial financial institutions.

The beneficial effects of Equity’s mobile banks are multiple; banking transactions including saving and essential borrowing encourage new and existing businesses, increased economic activity in poor areas improves living standards and opportunities for the poor and improved financial services encourages investment in infrastructure.

Equity Bank has proven that microfinance can indeed equate to strong performance and results. Since its inception it has focused its efforts on encouraging the unbanked to get involved with the banking sector. More than 2.5 million Kenyans bank with Equity Bank which is nearly half of all the country’s bank accounts. This is the result of the firm’s ability to innovate, react at speed and make best use of the inherent strengths of their organization.

Foreign Currency Swap For Faula Kenya

Standard Chartered Bank Kenya arranged the first cross currency swap for a microfinance institution to Faulu Kenya, helping the company guard against foreign exchange related risks.

Faulu Kenya obtained a subordinate loan of KSh491m in Euros ($7.9m) from Deutsche Bank Micro Finance Funds in New York.

The transaction allows Faulu Kenya to access Sh460 million ($7.4m) without having to bear any foreign exchange risks.

The working relationship, with Standard Chartered, has enabled Faulu to benefit from the making use of the bank’s technology framework.

Since it is not allowed to take any deposits, Faulu’s client’s deposit money at Standard Chartered, the accounts are then accessed on the end of the MFI through an internet web banking facility.

Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC (formerly IBTC Chartered Bank) is Nigeria’s preeminent investment banking institution and leading Issuing House (IH) by transaction value, having handled Nigeria’s largest equity/debt issues.

Over the last year, Stanbic IBTC acted as IH to the MTN Nigeria private placement which raised about US$1b from 79 Nigerian investors and is Nigeria’s largest private placement.

Stanbic IBTC also acted as Joint IH to a US$550m private placement by Starcomms, Nigeria’s first listed telecommunications company.

Other concluded transactions include the Zenith Bank Offering which raised US$3.4b, First Bank Offering which raised US$4b, Access Bank Offering which raised US$2b, Dangote Flour IPO which raised US$1b, US$400m Diamond Bank Domestic GDR Offering, and Fidelity Bank (US$847m) and Afribank (US$844m) Offerings.

Stanbic IBTC is currently acting as Joint IH to a US$2.5b regional IPO by Ecobank Transnational Incorporated across 3 African capital markets, and a US$2.3b debt issuance programme by Lagos State Government.

The size and breadth of the deals show that their clients recognise their professional capacity to execute high value deals, emphasising their strong market leadership position.

Banque de l’Habitat (BH) specialises in financing real estate development and private mortgages. It currently accounts for 50% commercial property and housing loans in Tunisia.

BH is the 4th largest bank in Tunisia in terms of total assets, standing at $3.2bn. The national objective is to enable all social strata and classes to have access to finance so that they can become home owners; today it is estimated that 80% of Tunisian families own their lodging.

Following the steep rise in the cost of raw materials related to the construction and housing industry, the bank has put in place specific measures and programmes to enable its customers access to finance the ownership of their properties. The number of applications for new real estate credits approved in 2007 was 8,323.

The bank thus registered gross profits of 112,8MD ($95m) a 21% increase, with net earnings of $41ma year on year increase of 80%.

These results were accompanied by a better management of its assets with its 72.3% coverage of its loans at risk, going beyond international standards (70%) and with a 7,33%.NPL ratio (Non Performing Loans).

Nedbank is highly committed to the uplift, development and empowerment of women. This care is evident in their initiatives aimed at the empowerment of women. As a result, they have over 60% women staff members, with over 50% holding management positions.

Nedbank has a specific development programme for women, namely the Harvard Women’s Programme. The Nedbank Women’s Forum was established to enrich the lives of women within Nedbank. The forum plays an active part in advancing Nedbank’s transformation strategy in 2007. Various informative discussion groups are presented and a series of workshops, designed to assist new mothers to reintegrate into the workplace. It has, among others, implemented “Women’s Empowerment” and “New mothers” Programmes.

Nedbank’s initiatives are also aimed at women within communities. They have been participating in the ‘Cell C - Take a girl child to work’ initiative since 2002. The 2007 theme ‘Choice Empowers’ set out to show girls the potential they have to build a career [at Nedbank Group] and to help them make informed choices about their futures. They have each year hosted 200 girls across the country.

The importance of a strong banking regulator has been highlighted recently with all the turmoil in the financial markets.

In Africa, a major problem has been that large parts of the population remain unbanked. And one of the reasons is the fact that banking services can be prohibitive. Clive Pillay and his team have worked tirelessly to reduce bank fees and bank charges. His regulatory body will effectively create a more competitive banking sector which will benefit both the banks and the clients in the long term. And they have set a strong precedent for other countries to follow suit.

The South Africa Ombudsman has also been active in terms of resolving a number of critical issues. Under Clive Pillay, complaints of fraud within the clientele of Nedbank and Standard Bank complaints of fraud has decreased 26% in 2006 from 69% to 43% last year.

Recently the Office of Fair Trading in the UK, told banks that their overdraft charges are probably unfair. In April 2008, the High Court, in a series of legal rulings said that the Office of Fair Trading had the right to scrutinize the fairness of the banks’ current charges.

Also, last month, the Australian Treasurer, Wayne Swan, warned banks that they will have to compensate customers if they do not provide an easy route for switching banks. More often than not, the high costs of switching banks is prohibitive.

Pillay has also served as chairman for Malabar Ratepayers Association, Chairman of the Ani-Tricameral Parliament Election Committee and Board of Control member of the University of Port Elizabeth.

Otunba Balogun was born at Ijebu-Ode in Ogun State. He graduated with an LLB Honours in June, 1959 at the London School of Economics (LSE) and was called to the English Bar in December, 1959.

Otunba Balogun is a trail blazer, the doyen and grandmaster of the Nigerian capital and money markets, pioneer and role model of entrepreneurial banking in Nigeria; a constructive and incurable philanthropist; not just a boardroom mogul but a breeder of high calibre moguls.

For nine years, between 1966 and 1975, he was the first Principal Counsel and Company Secretary to the Nigerian Industrial Development Bank (NIDB). He received extensive training from leading stockbrokers, investment banks and merchant banks in London and New York.

Otunba Balogun took Nigeria by storm in 1982, when he became the first Nigerian to single-handedly set up a wholly-owned Nigerian merchant bank without foreign technical partners as was required by the Regulatory Authorities.

  He started by first establishing the first Nigerian combined Stockbroking and Issuing House as well Registrars’ Company in 1977.  From this he obtained a licence for merchant banking.

  His success opened the floodgate to a number of people... a lot of licences were then granted to other people.

Chief Subomi Balogun is the founder of Nigeria’s first indigenous merchant bank which later metamorphosed into the First City Monument Bank (FCMB), one of the 25 commercial banks that survived the Federal Government’s recapitalisation policy about three years ago.

He is a Fellow of CIBN; Knight of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy. In November 2000, he was conferred with the National Honours of “Commander of the Order of the Niger” by the President and Commander in Chief of the armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

The Development Bank of Southern Africa has defined its purpose as to accelerate sustainable socio-economic development by funding physical, social and economic infrastructure.

In addition to the Bank’s long-term investments in projects that promote development, it also contributes financially to targeted development interventions.

This has led to the bank’s Targeted Infrastructure Programme, financing the building and development of poorly resourced municipalities that are unable to attract and manage the flow of funding for development; this funding contributes to building these areas and communities.

Capacity building is key and the bank has dedicated research and advisory expenditure in support of national and international knowledge initiatives, as well as external training through the Vulindlela Academy, a centre of excellence for capacity building and training in the region. Technical assistance grants to clients for purposes such as feasibility studies, the development of business plans and the acquisition of technical expertise.

The Bank has gone about achieving MDGs through project funding, monitoring results through a Matrix to evaluate the impact. The Bank has also invested in infrastructure development. The Bank continued its support for the Women in Construction Development Programme. This initiative provided women entrepreneurs with training in business skills; assistance with contract documentation, health and safety issues, and planning for site start-up; and practical on-site mentoring.

Although best known for maximising shareholder returns, private equity has an important role in development. Funds supported by the DBSA assist regional economies in securing long-term capital and improving management and financial expertise. In the past year, the DBSA approved R200 million [$25m] and committed R913 million [$115m] to three private equity funds.

ECP count themselves as the first private equity group inside Africa to raise more than $1.5bn for investment in companies across the African continent. The ECP team has been investing in Africa since 2000. Today, the firm has an eight-year track-record of investing in Africa through six successful funds. Highlights include, over 50 investments, 19 exits, and a strong portfolio of remaining transactions as well as investments in more than 35 countries, in all major regions of the African continent.

With employees residing and working within six nations throughout Africa, ECP’s investment team has a deep reach into African markets. This enables the firm to gain superior insight into the region's local economies and ultimately select companies that will deliver exceptional returns.

Across all of its exits, ECP has achieved an average return of three times its initial investments. ECP Africa Fund II closed in May 2007 with US$523 million and was the largest fund focused exclusively on investing throughout Africa. It was established to capitalize on the numerous investment opportunities throughout Africa in sectors such as telecom, natural resources, financial services, agribusiness, transportation, and power and water. ECP Africa Fund II has made 18 investments to date, across 30+ countries including Algeria, Botswana, Cote d’Ivoire, Djibouti, Guinea, Libya, Ghana, Mali, Liberia, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zimbabwe etc…

Ecobank operates in 25 countries, employing 9,000 professionals from 27 African countries. It stands out for its regional focus on Africa, its passion and commitment. Ecobank plays a creative role in regional integration projects through its operations. It also built a shared Service Centre for $40million worth of technology for an impressive state-of-the-art technology catering for 24 countries and managed by 350 professionals. Ecobank’s strategy and culture stresses diversity and inclusion, embracing nationality and gender friendly policies.

Ecobank is opening the first ever African regional Initial Public Offering [IPO] of $2.5billion. It made return on equity of 21% in 2007 higher than any other bank in Sub-Saharan Africa. Ecobank made profits of 52% in the first six months of 2008.

As a very strong bank, it has a capital adequacy ratio of 20%. It accounts US dollars and complies with International Financial Reporting Standards [IFRS]. It will add $3billion to its balance sheet at the end of its current public offer, making it the No. 1 bank in Africa.

Renaissance Capital is the world’s largest independent investment bank. It has recently expanded its operations in Africa and has set up offices in Accra, Lagos, Nairobi, Lusaka, Harare and Johannesburg, bringing to each office the same standards and practices in terms of infrastructure and professionalism as its offices in Russia, London and New York.

Renaissance Capital delivers the full range of investment banking products and has also built the largest and most experienced team of world-class market professionals dedicated solely to Sub-Saharan Africa. Renaissance has created a fully-fledged investment banking, asset management and merchant banking operation run by Africans in Africa in the space of just two years.

Renaissance is ranked number 1 for EMEA Research. The firm is also active in sales and trading in all of the 14 equity markets and was ranked top five for EMEA equity capital markets in 2007. Renaissance Investment Management’s groundbreaking Africa Fund was launched in 2007, and had assets under management of approximately $110m as at the end of June. Commitments will bring this up to more than $200m by the first quarter of 2009. Renaissance Capital stands out from its competitors as it is the only bank (local and international) to have 5 investment banking licenses in the major Sub-Saharan African and International markets.

Renaissance Capital has built on its successful model in Russia and the CIS to bring a fresh approach to investment banking in Africa, by operating on the ground, changing the conventional wisdom of investment banking in Africa and changing the perceptions of the Continent to international investors.

Fidelity Bank Plc commenced operations in 1988, as a merchant bank. In 1999, it converted to commercial banking and then became a universal bank in February 2001. Fidelity Bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility [CSR] thrust rests on a plank it calls the Helping Hands Project focusing on social and health infrastructural developments. This is just a subsidiary in Fidelity Bank’s CSR sector, which includes Green Projects in conjunction with the Nigerian Conservation Foundation [NCF] to establish environmental renewal and sustaining in all of Nigeria’s geopolitical zones.

Every single branch of the Bank is expected to help raise funds for charitable and development projects to help the needy in the locality, involving staff members of all levels. The effectiveness of this approach lies in the fact it is driven from the bottom – the branches – rather than Head Office.

Community Humanitarian Needs is a branch of their CSR department, developed to push their CSR projects, in addition to The Arts and The Environment (Beautification and Sustainability). This is Fidelity Bank’s way of focusing on several aspects of social development. As part of the Bank’s effort to drum up support for the Environment, Fidelity Bank became the first and only bank in Nigeria to use biodegradable and recyclable papers instead of nylon to dispense cash to customers. Lately, Fidelity Bank has expanded its areas of CSR to include support to the Arts through the yearly International Creative Writing Workshop in collaboration with Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.

The Bank focuses on initiatives which are sustainable, a part that is lacking in many organisations’ CSR thrust.

When Zenith Bank successfully established its UK subsidiary in 2007, it became the first Nigerian bank in 25 years to be licensed by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) in the UK. Until 2007, the subsidiaries of Nigerian banks operating in the UK were branches of banks that were formerly owned by British banks.

This was a major achievement as it demonstrated the confidence that the FSA had in Zenith’s corporate governance, accounting and reporting standards, and general strong business reputation. This has opened the door for other Nigerian banks to enter the UK market.

The international profile of Zenith Bank is enhanced by its other subsidiaries in Ghana, Sierra Leone and a representative office in South Africa. Plans are also at advanced stages for subsidiaries in Egypt, Dubai, New York and China.

Zenith’s operations in the UK and other major countries allowed the bank to significantly enhance its customer experience by providing seamless letter of credit and trade finance transactions while increasing shareholder value by enhancing and diversifying income from processing and confirming trade finance and letter of credit.

Dr. Acquah was born in Guabo, a village in Central Region of Ghana A graduate of the University of Ghana and Yale University in Economics, Governor Acquah, obtained a Ph. D at the University of Pennsylvania, USA, and joined the IMF as a young economist.

Rising through the ranks, he eventually became deputy director for the Africa Department in 1998.

The Banking system in Ghana is undergoing rapid change and much of this is attributable to Dr Paul Acquah and his technocratic team at the Bank. They have successfully redominated their currency. They have successfully issued their first Eurobond, sub sahara’s first outside of South Africa, and he has pushed a consolidation of the Banking sector in Ghana with some great success.

The independence and competence of the country’s banking system has also been key to his policy. Mr Acquah has overseen the stabilisation of the sector, based around institutions with a significant capital base. He believes a strong and independent banking system should be at the 'heart of the government’s growth strategy'.

For the first time in 35 years the Cedi has actually appreciated with respect to the dollar. In November 2003, the cedi was C9,500 to $1. Today it is around C9009 to $1. This is definitely an achievement worth praising.

Ghana's economy has been transformed by dint of the efforts of Paul Acquah, the governor of the central bank. When he took over six years ago, the country was on the brink of disaster.

Hon. Goodall Gondwe comes from Kayiwonanga Village, Mzimba in northern Malawi.  He is a Fellow of the Institute of Bankers (FIB).  He also holds a B.Sc. (Economics), London. Mr. Gondwe was appointed Minister of Finance in June, 2004. Under his stewardship the rate of inflation has fallen from 30% in 2005 to 6% today, despite Malawi being a relatively small country with little natural resources compared to some of its neighbours.

The economy today is growing at approx 6%, and Mr Gondwe has never been afraid of putting sound economic policies before populist measures, often having to take a stand against his peers and political opposition.

Tony Elumelu is one of the most respected business leaders in Africa. Known fondly as the "turn-around whizz kid", he combines the qualities of foresight, innovativeness, relentless entrepreneurship, deep industry knowledge and a great pride in the African story.

Under his leadership, UBA Plc has been transformed in approximately three years from being just one of the big banks in Nigeria to a dynamic international full-service financial services institution, the largest in West Africa with over $14billion in assets.

His vision is to extend this leadership to the African continent as a whole. Mr Elumelu believes fervently that, given the chance, Africans can build global brands just as well (if not better) than their international counterparts. He is driven by the desire to create a company that not only benchmarks global standards, but also leads as a role model for other African businesses.

Mr. Elumelu’s vision has been supported by a concerted strategy to rebuild UBA segment by segment. Under a new management structure announced in May 2008, he streamlined his reporting structure and empowered his executive team in alignment with his vision of building Africa’s global bank. With the establishment of UBA Capital Europe in late 2007, UBA became the first West African bank to establish a world-class investment banking presence outside of Africa. Significantly, the Global Group heads of Investment Banking, Asset Management and Research are now based in London.

Mr Elumelu takes great pride in recruiting and developing the best talent both locally and from around the world. More than any other African bank, UBA has been extremely active in recruiting the best international and local talent, particularly African talent in the Diaspora. The Group's brand positioning statement 'Africa’s global bank' underscores Elumelu's dream to build an enduring organisation that Africans everywhere will be proud of. An organisation that would prove that Africa can produce great business leaders not just great athletes.

Intercontinental Bank is rated as the second largest bank in Nigeria by tier 1 capital and 6th most capitalized bank in Africa.

The bank has consistently demonstrated a continuous track record of growth and profitability, reinforcing their mission to build and preserve wealth for their shareholders. With over N1 trillion in deposits and 19% of the deposit market share and significant growth in all earnings indices, they are a bank of systemic importance.

Intercontinental Bank is fast expanding its global footprint with over 300 branches in Nigeria and established subsidiaries in London, Ghana and Equatorial Guinea. It is also pursuing a presence in the United States, China, and Sierra Leone.

The bank presently has the second largest ATM network in Nigeria with over 800 ATMs and the largest share of the E-Banking customer wallet with the highest transaction rate. The bank is also the 3rd largest branch network in Nigeria and the second largest customer base of over 2 million customers.

The bank has adopted a global recruitment outlook scouting for best talents from leading institutions across the globe to top management positions. These strategic recruitments are targeted at raising the human capacity within the organization for global competition.

The bank has diversified its market focus from a mainly commercial and public sector business to increased participation in retail and corporate banking markets. The bank has grown its retail market share using consumer lending partnering with major retailers of consumers goods.

It also strengthened its corporate banking capabilities with several high profile hires including a South African recruited as Division Head for Corporate Banking. The bank has participated in major syndications including the $1.7 trillion dollar syndication for Dangote Cement which is the largest Cement conglomerate in West Africa.