Jeremy Awori is the CEO of Ecobank Group. ILLUSTRATION | JOSEPH BARASA | NMG
After 10 years as the managing director of Absa Bank Kenya, Jeremy Awori in March 2023 took on a new role as the Group CEO at Ecobank, which has a presence in 35 African countries.
The Business Daily spoke to Mr Awori about how he is settling in at Ecobank, his vision at the pan-African bank, balancing between growing the business and meeting investors’ demands and how different the current assignment is from that of Absa.
How are you settling into your new role?
Very well. It has been a busy yet fantastic start. I have visited some of our key markets, where I met colleagues, customers, and regulators, among others, to learn more about our business, understand their expectations, and begin to address any concerns they may have.
The transition process with my predecessor was robust and provided an effective grounding and readiness to hit the ground running to lead the Ecobank Group to exciting next levels.
I am excited and confident about the organisation's future, having now taken up the baton to lead the next phase of Ecobank's growth, transformation and returns strategy.
How is the experience working away from home again? Are you learning some French in Lomé?
I have been in the corporate sector for many years with experience across and beyond Africa and working away from Kenya.
I travel a lot to see our businesses, meet fellow Ecobankers and key stakeholders and it can be challenging being away from family and friends. I do my best to integrate my travels and have breaks with them.
The beauty of working with this pan-African organisation is the ability to work and interact in four official languages: English, French, Portuguese, and Spanish. It is a learning journey.
With over 25 years of experience in the banking sector, why the Ecobank assignment now?
Ecobank is a unique brand whose purpose is to drive the African continent's economic growth and regional integration.
Leading this Group, with a presence in 35 African countries and more than 14,000 people from 43 nationalities, is a great opportunity.
I see significant opportunities for Ecobank to drive further penetration of financial services across the continent.
But more importantly, what excites me is the ability of Ecobank to work with customers, partners, governments, and regulators to solve some of the pressing needs and problems in these countries.
Ecobank shareholders in May authorised directors to raise up to $500 million (Sh69.6 billion) during the year. What benefit does this present in the context of a bond that is maturing next year?
Refinancing maturing bonds is part and parcel of being a multinational corporate and a pan-African bank.
Given we have bonds maturing next year, we are preparing early and sought approval at the annual general meeting to start the process which is normal business practice.
We constantly monitor our capital needs and tap the debt and equity markets when necessary.
Are there any plans in the short term to inject more money into the Kenyan business given the immense opportunities in the digital space in the East African economy?
Ecobank’s Central, Eastern and Southern African region covers 18 of our countries, with Kenya being the regional hub. Kenya and East Africa are key markets with exciting opportunities for future growth.
The adoption of mobile, digital and online banking by customers in Kenya is high. Our solutions meet those needs.
We will be introducing further services and solutions which leverage the connectivity and reach provided by digital and mobile. We are appropriately capitalised and are investing for growth in the country and region.
How do you plan to grow and transform businesses in the currently sub-scale markets?
We are carefully reviewing the dynamics of these markets. Our focus in the short run would be to invest in markets we see significant opportunities and have the ability to compete.
We will look at the state of play and focus on growth opportunities within our sub-scale markets.
In countries where we don’t have a leadership position, we are reviewing our competitive strategies. Our aim is to grow and transform these businesses.
The rallying call for investors is for more dividends. How do you plan to balance this with growing the business across the 35 markets?
We are very focused on delivering great experiences and solutions for our customers and in doing so, deliver strong financial results and returns for our shareholders.
Our full-year 2022 and first-quarter 2023 results were quite solid despite the challenging economic environment.
Given current global market uncertainties, we must balance releasing a dividend with conserving retained earnings to drive future growth and cover for future uncertainties as some of the regulators have generally advised.
Our growth, transformation and returns agenda is expected to drive earnings growth. We will continue to drive our corporate & investment banking business forward and scale up our growth in our consumer banking and SME / business banking businesses.
There are growing calls to shift from fossils at a time many African economies want to exploit their oil and gas deposits. How can Ecobank ensure that it stays on the sustainability agenda without scuttling the continent’s growth by shunning oil and gas financing?
We understand that climate change will impact both the economies of the African countries we invest in and our own growth.
However, a rapid and unplanned energy transition from fossil fuels such as oil and gas will also hurt our economic growth, leading to job losses, conflict, and resentment.
Based on this, there is a need to promote a balanced approach that allows a just and inclusive transition.
This will require rapidly deploying renewable energy sources and using natural gas as a transition fuel for African countries while reducing our reliance on fossil fuels.
Ecobank has developed a sustainable finance framework that allows us to ramp up our lending in renewable energy.
We also actively collaborate with stakeholders, including governments and communities, to ensure that diverse perspectives are considered when designing policies, regulations, and investment frameworks.
→ palushula@ke.nationmedia.com
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