ABSA is Africa’s Best Investment Bank

Also won Best Investment Bank in Botswana

GAZETTE REPORTER
Absa Corporate and Investment Bank (CIB) claimed top honours in the 12th EMEA Finance African Banking Awards for 2019 when it was awarded Best Investment Bank in Africa. It also won Best Investment Bank in Botswana, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia; as well the Best Equity House in Mozambique and the Best Loan House in South Africa.

Commenting on the awards, Barclays Botswana Managing Director (MD) Keabetswe Pheko-Moshagane said: “We are delighted to be the recipient of this award for two consecutive years, a testament that our contribution and services are appreciated by the customers we serve. We endeavour to continuously explore novel and innovative ways to help bring possibility to life for our customers. As we transition to ABSA, customers are at the centre of everything that we do.”

The awards recognise the achievements of retail and investment banks, as well as their asset management and brokerage operations across the combined emerging Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions.

David Renwick, Head: Investment Banking Division, says “ABSA owes these achievements to incredible partnerships it’s built with its clients and the talented teams within the business that continually demonstrate world-class expertise and capabilities across a range of solutions and markets for clients in Africa. These included various mergers and acquisitions, structured asset finance, as well as being the joint-lead arranger in the first social bond ever raised by a corporate in Africa.”

The other notable achievement for the bank was their selection as joint book-runner on the Airtel Africa Plc dual Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the London and Nigerian stock exchanges, where ABSA was also Joint Issuing House in Nigeria as well. Renwick says this was the largest African IPO since 2018 and the largest ever IPO on the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

“ABSA has been recognised for its leadership position in developing new and innovative solutions and providing and understanding the requirements and challenges facing our clients. We are always excited about the opportunity to help our clients to realise their potential and bring their ambitions to life. Whether their goal is to raise capital, they need to expand and invest in their business, or if they realise value created, their existing assets. We are committed to seeing this continent thrive, and we believe in the significant growth opportunities this continent provides,” Renwick said.

Charles Russon, the CEO of CIB, said ABSA is pushing the financial boundaries by developing new propositions that remove obstacles and reduce client’s pain points, in addition to being a socially responsible bank in the markets in operates.

“Being chosen as the Best Investment bank in Africa in these highly respected industry awards is testament to the hard work we have put in to make our business more and more client-orientated while ensuring we continue to deliver at the level expected of a leading investment bank. We have seen a growing appetite by our clients to invest and expand across the continent, both in the markets ABSA operates and non-present countries and we are more than ready to provide the solutions to help them realise their ambitions,” said Russon.