The Chairman of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), the parent of the Ecobank Group, Mr. Alain Nkontchou, has said the pan-African bank will continually leverage technology and partnerships to grow its business, especially in the area of trade, payments, remittances and financial inclusion.
Addressing shareholders at the 33rd annual general meeting (AGM), Nkontchou said he became Chairman of the Ecobank Group in June 2020, when our world was dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We offered our support in numerous ways to customers, employees, communities, health authorities and governments. Through our multiple distribution channels and the substantial investments in technology, we were able to offer seamless continuity of service.
“We are intent on growing our business and will remain at the forefront of trade, payments, remittances and financial inclusion by continually leveraging on technology and appropriate partnerships,” he said.
Also speaking, the Chief Executive Officer, Ecobank Group, Ade Ayeyemi, said they had invested and focused significantly on, ‘Building Back Better,’ to position for long-term growth and sustainability.
“We will be driving our execution momentum agenda towards utilising these investments to deliver revenue expansion and the generation of long-term growth and return of capital for the company and its shareholders,” Ayeyemi said.
Shareholders applauded the group’s progress in 2020 and how it rose to the challenging environment. Profit for the year at ETI, the holding company, was $201 million compared with $184 million in 2019. For the consolidated Group, net revenues increased four per cent to $1,680 million. The gradual shift from physical to digital channels among consumers accelerated with the pandemic, which has changed the way of working in so many ways.
“With our technology investments over the years, we were prepared and ensured that we steadfastly provided our customers with 24/7 access to their financial services’ needs.
“For example, our call centres were open, and Rafiki, our artificial intelligence (AI) self-help bot, supported routine banking services. Our full suite of banking services remained available on all our digital platforms: mobile, online, Omni Plus and Omni Lite,” the group said.
