Moody’s awarded the transaction its highest possible sustainability quality score, SQS1 Excellent. The bond will ​support African farmers, sustainable agriculture businesses and water systems​,​ protecting some of the planet’s most important ecosystems.

Impact on the ground in Africa

Africa is home to some of the world’s most important natural capital, including arable land, tropical forests, freshwater systems and biodiversity across hundreds of millions of hectares. But, until now, private nature capital has not flowed to Africa at the scale the continent’s ecological significance warrants​ in global ecological resilience.

D​​espite hosting 25% of global biodiversity, Africa receives less than 3% of nature finance​​. Ecobank’s Nature Bond​ is a direct response to this gap. It​ will support smallholder farmers adopting sustainable agricultural practices, agri-processors with verified deforestation-free supply chains, and water infrastructure protecting freshwater ecosystems relied upon by millions of people.

Unlike many conservation-focused financing vehicles, Ecobank’s Nature Bond channels capital directly through Africa’s real economy, financing businesses and communities whose day-to-day activities shape environmental outcomes at scale.

The investments will be made in 24 markets, with significant deployment in biodiversity-priority countries such as Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso and Ghana.

Importantly, 81% of the eligible lending pool is allocated to countries where agricultural land-use change is the primary driver of biodiversity loss, helping direct capital to the areas where it can have the greatest environmental impact.

The framework also incorporates independent monitoring and verification mechanisms, including deforestation screening and supply chain traceability requirements, helping ensure that financed activities deliver measurable nature-positive outcomes. Every eligible loan carries seven independently verified sustainability conditions.

The launch of this bond​ also​ comes as governments and investors worldwide face mounting pressure to mobilise private capital for biodiversity protection and sustainable land use. ​​​​

What is a Nature Bond?

A Nature Bond, under the ICMA secondary designation​,​ requires proceeds to actively contribute to nature-positive outcomes, including transforming economic activities to reduce the drivers of nature loss at scale.

The Nature Bond was designed to reach those that conservation-focused instruments were not designed to serve, farmers, agri-processors and water operators whose daily activities collectively determine ecosystem outcomes.

While green bonds typically finance a broad range of environmental objectives, the Nature Bond designation focuses the use of proceeds specifically on nature-related outcomes, including biodiversity, sustainable agriculture, land use and water infrastructure.

The transaction

The USD 450 million bond was priced following strong investor demand with the final orderbook exceeding USD 1.36 billion – 3.9x the original target size. The strength of demand enabled Ecobank to increase the transaction by USD 100 million and tighten pricing by 50 basis points.

The transaction attracted support from both international and African investors, demonstrating Ecobank’s unique ability to mobilise capital across global and African markets.

For the first time, international and African capital markets have a credible, scalable mechanism for financing the protection of African natural capital through the communities who depend on it.

Jeremy Awori, group chief executive officer, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, commented:

“This transaction is a defining moment for African sustainable finance. Investors did not just support this bond. They demanded more of it, allowing us to increase the size and tighten pricing.

We are not a bank that simply labels bonds. We have spent four years building the systems, governance and accountability needed to make nature finance credible and scalable in Africa.

This bond is ultimately about the farmers, cooperatives and communities whose livelihoods depend on healthy ecosystems.”

Rachael Antwi, group head of Sustainability and ESRM, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, added:

“Nature finance will only scale in Africa if it is practical, measurable and connected to the real economy. This bond is designed to do that by linking international capital to eligible lending for sustainable agriculture and water infrastructure across 24 countries. It reflects the systems and standards Ecobank has built to ensure nature finance supports both environmental resilience and the communities whose livelihoods depend on healthy ecosystems.”

• Efficiency improved with a cost-to-income ratio at a record 48.3%, while customer deposits grew by $4.9 billion to reach $25.3 billion, strengthening funding and liquidity
• The ETI Board has recommended a dividend payout of $40 million or 0.16 US cents ($0.0016) per share, subject to shareholder approval at the Annual General Meeting

Ecobank Group has delivered a strong set of financial results for the year ended 31 December 2025, reflecting continued execution of its Growth, Transformation, and Returns (GTR) strategy and deliberate growth across its businesses.

Profit before tax grew by 21% year-on-year to $801 million, while net revenues rose by 17% to $2.45 billion, driven by solid performances in both Corporate and Investment Banking, and Consumer and Commercial Banking.

Growth was supported by increased client activity, higher trade volumes, and continued expansion in payments and lending across the Group’s extensive network.

The Group’s diversified Pan-African business model continued to underpin our resilience and our operational and financial performance.

Central, Eastern and Southern Africa (CESA) emerged as the fastest-growing region, while Anglophone and Francophone West Africa delivered strong profitability supported by improved funding costs, trade flows, and treasury activities.

Operationally, efficiencies improved as revenue growth outpaced cost increases, resulting in a record cost-to-income ratio of 48.3%, improved from 52.8% a year ago.

The Group maintained a robust balance sheet, with solid capital and liquidity buffers. Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) recorded strong momentum, achieving a 40% increase in profit before tax to $697 million, backed by growth in trade finance, cash management, and capital markets.

Similarly, Consumer and Commercial Banking (CCB) delivered substantial results, with profit before tax rising by 27% to $480 million, supported by robust deposit mobilisation and heightened lending activity, rising by 33%.

Across our CIB and CCB businesses, customer deposits grew by $4.9 billion to $25.3 billion, reflecting significant transaction flows and deepened customer engagement, while loans, driven by trade finance and digitally enabled lending, rose to $12.8 billion.

Asset quality pressures increased during the year, primarily driven by higher non-performing loans in Nigeria linked to legacy exposures and the exit from regulatory forbearance.

The Group has taken prudent steps to strengthen its balance sheet, including raising expected credit loss reserves to 7.8% of gross loans from 5.7%.

The total capital adequacy ratio of 16.7% remains comfortable above minimum regulatory requirements by 420 basis points.

This resilience drove sustained value for our shareholders, marked by a return on tangible equity (ROTE) of 27.8%. Reflecting this strong financial position, the ETI Board has recommended a dividend payout of $40 million or 0.16 US cents ($0.0016) per share, subject to shareholder approval at the Annual General Meeting.

Commenting, Jeremy Awori, chief executive officer of Ecobank Group, said:

“Our 2025 performance has further demonstrated that our Growth, Transformation and Returns (GTR) strategy, along with our diversified pan-African business model, is yielding positive results.  This includes a return on tangible shareholders’ equity of 27.8% and a record cost-to-income ratio of 48.3%, down from 52.8% a year ago, with improvements across various businesses and regions.”

He added:

“We continued to invest in enhancing our solutions and customer interactions across both physical and digital channels, resulting in a 1,000-basis-point increase in customer satisfaction to 70%. Furthermore, we made significant progress in key turnaround subsidiaries in the CESA region, including Kenya, Uganda, and Zambia, where efficiency ratios have improved markedly”.

“Overall, these achievements would not have been possible without the dedication of approximately 14,000 Ecobank employees across Africa, who have embraced our ongoing transformation and prioritised meeting our customers’ needs. I am proud of their efforts “, he concluded.

The win reflects Ecobank’s unwavering commitment to meeting the specialised needs of SMEs across its diverse markets.

The award ceremony took place on 20 February 2024 at Glaziers Hall in London, UK.

Also, one of its affiliates, Ecobank Nigeria emerged Best FX Bank under the Country & Territory Awards category for Nigeria.

Global Finance says Ecobank Nigeria emerged winner based on transaction volume, market share, breadth of offerings, and global coverage, as detailed in public company documents and media reports from Nigeria.

“Our criteria also include subjective factors such as reputation, thought leadership, customer service, and technology innovation, using input from industry analysts, surveys, corporate executives, and others.”

Carol Oyedeji, acting group executive, Ecobank Commercial Banking, said:

“This award recognises the strength of Ecobank’s support for Africa’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), enabling them to thrive and grasp the immense intra-African trade opportunities created by the AfCFTA’s single market. In addition to our comprehensive suite of banking, payments, collection, and financing solutions, we also offer invaluable non-financial support, such as business leadership and skills training, and our innovative matchmaking platform connecting traders, buyers, sellers and suppliers across Africa.”

She added that despite the volatile foreign exchange (FX) challenges, Ecobank Nigeria displayed the highest levels of transparency, maintaining high transaction volume and retaining its market share in the country.

In recent months, Ecobank has further expanded its lending capacity to meet the financing needs of SMEs through strategic initiatives, including a US$200 million risk-sharing agreement with the African Guarantee Fund, and a US$32.8 million loan facility from eco.business Fund and the SANAD Fund for SMEs.

Global Finance selected the winners for the 2024 Best SME Bank Awards based on entries submitted by banks and independent research, supplemented by insights from industry insiders, executives, and technology experts.

This latest recognition adds to Ecobank’s growing list of accolades, including being named Africa’s Best Bank for SMEs in Euromoney’s Awards for Excellence 2023, continuing the success from the previous year.

Eric Odhiambo, Group Executive, Corporate and Investment Banking, Ecobank Group who was speaking on the ongoing Intra-African Trade Fair 2023 (IATF 2023) taking place in Cairo, Egypt, said the bank’s digital platforms facilitate seamless payments and collections across 35 countries where the Pan African has operation on the continent.

He said IATF 2023, the continent’s premier trade and investment event with the theme: “Connecting African Markets” provides a springboard platform for businesses to grow their intra-African trade and investments across the continent’s single market of 1.4 billion people created by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

According to him,

“IATF provides Africa’s businesses with unrivalled opportunities to network, connect and sign contracts with buyers and sellers from across the continent. With our comprehensive suite of banking products, services, solutions and our established digital platform, which facilitates seamless payments and collections across our 35 countries of presence in Africa, Ecobank is positioned as the ‘go to’ bank for payments and trade. To further support businesses to grow and succeed we have also put in place a range of initiatives which include the game-changing Ecobank Single Market Trade Hub, which connects importers and exporters across Africa.”

The Ecobank Single Market Trade Hub is a cutting-edge digital platform, which serves as an exchange and information repository, designed to respond to the evolving trading needs of SMEs and corporates within Africa’s single market.

The Trade Hub reduces the asymmetry in trade information and leverages Ecobank’s wide client base, through its network advantage given its presence in 35 African markets.

With more than 2,000 customers onboarded on the platform, the Trade Hub offers the following essential features and services:

• MyTradeHub: An online match-making platform that enables importers and exporters to create their company profiles, exhibit their goods and services, and connect with buyers and suppliers throughout Africa.

• AfCFTA expertise: A valuable repository of knowledge and information on the African Continental Free Trade Area, to help SMEs and corporates familiarise themselves with the single market and ways to expand their trade into new African markets.

• Trade and Payment Solutions: A gateway to Ecobank’s full range of products and digital solutions, including trade finance and services, cash management solutions, domestic and cross-border payments and collections, investment banking, Capex financing, and more.

Ecobank’s additional solutions to facilitate intra-African trade include RapidCollect, which enables businesses to collect payments instantly and at low cost from their customers in 33 countries, whilst only needing one single account in their home country; and assisting businesses to gain an online presence and develop a free website through Google My Business Platform.

In addition, Ecobank will be acting as an inter-bank settlement agent for Central Banks in our countries of operation that have not yet signed up to Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS).

IATF 2023 promises to play a key role in raising awareness and helping Africa’s businesses to grasp the opportunities and benefits of the AfCFTA and create new markets across Africa, while fostering investments and boosting value chains.

The Ecobank Group is determined to continue to play a significant role in helping to achieve the objectives of the AfCFTA and is delighted to be a sponsor of the IATF2023.

According to the bank, the PBT growth was supported by the benefits of its diversified business model. Within the period under review, the solid profit growth in Commercial Banking up 100 per cent to $134m and Consumer Banking, up 50 per cent to $130m, was partially offset by a decrease of 17 per cent to $333m in Corporate and Investment Banking PBT, mainly due to impairment charges associated with Government of Ghana’s debt restructuring exercise.

The pan-African banking institution also reported net revenues of $1.9bn in the period under review.

As part of its commitment to shareholders, the bank also announced a proposed final dividend payout of $28m or 0.11 US cents per share subject to shareholder approval at its next AGM.

Speaking about the result in a statement accompanying the financial results, Jeremy Awori, the Chief Executive Officer of Ecobank, said that Ghana’s debt restructuring exercise placed the company in a difficult position during the financial year.

https://twitter.com/GroupEcobank/status/1641480451452809237

He said, “Ecobank’s strong 2022 performance reflects the strength of our diversified business model, growth momentum and efficiency, and was achieved despite operating in a challenging macroeconomic environment, which also included the difficulties that Ghana’s debt restructuring exercise placed on us.

The Board of Directors selected Jeremy Awori to succeed Ade Ayeyemi as Group Chief Executive Officer. The relevant effective dates will be communicated in due course.

Alain Nkontchou, Ecobank Group Chairman, thanked Ade for his immense contribution during his seven years at the helm of the Ecobank Group as Group CEO. 

“Ade can be rightly proud of his success in leading the implementation of the Roadmap to Leadership strategy, navigating Ecobank through challenges, seizing opportunities, and positioning Ecobank for sustainable long-term growth. Ade’s deep knowledge, unrivaled vision, commitment and infinite passion made all the difference. It has been a real pleasure working with him. I count on his continuous support to ensure a smooth transition as we onboard Jeremy Awori as the new Group CEO,” the Chairman added.

“Jeremy Awori is a highly respected leader in the banking industry with significant achievements in his previous capacities. The Board of Directors strongly believes that his drive and strong focus on results will be vital in steering the Group in its next phase,” Alain Nkontchou stated.

Ade Ayeyemi expressed his deep gratitude for the opportunity to lead the Ecobank Group and stated: “It is a privilege to lead an amazing team of Ecobankers in bringing the Ecobank Group back to growth and continuing to realise our commendable pan-African mandate.” He also expressed his commitment to a smooth transition and onboarding of his successor.

The incoming Group CEO, Jeremy Awori, responding to the announcement of his appointment said: “It is a great honour to be appointed Ecobank Group’s Chief Executive Officer. I look forward to consolidating the transformation of Ecobank, a truly pan-African institution full of talented people, while innovating to create value for all Ecobank’s stakeholders. I am humbled by the opportunity to contribute to the continent’s economic development and financial integration with Ecobank Group.”

Jeremy Awori is joining Ecobank Group following a twenty-five-year long career in the banking industry, with almost a decade leading Absa Bank Kenya Plc as the CEO & Managing Director.

Before joining Absa, Jeremy held multiple leadership roles at Standard Chartered Bank across the Middle-East and Africa. He brings a wealth of experience, skills, and industry know-how to the Ecobank Group.

Under the partnership, Ecobank will extend the reach and impact of the Mastercard Farm Pass platform leveraging its Pan-African network of 33 countries. Many smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa face several challenges.

These include limited access to markets, working capital to finance activities or secure quality inputs, and relevant financial tools to pay and get paid efficiently.

This has led to insecurity, inefficiencies, and a waste of resources and food, preventing farmers from running sustainable businesses.

Farm Pass brings together various agri-sector stakeholders from the supply and demand sides, in one agricultural marketplace, amplifying the collective positive impact on farming communities.

Smallholder farmers can sell their produce at a better price, access quality inputs and farming information, get paid and pay digitally and develop a financial profile that can unlock financing opportunities for working capital and inputs. 

According to McKinsey and Company, more than 60% of the population of sub-Saharan Africa are smallholder farmers, with the agricultural sector contributing an estimated 23% of the continent’s GDP.

Yet only 3% of the sector receives banking credit, limiting the farmers capacity to grow their business or mitigate poor harvest losses. By integrating their businesses with payment systems, Farm Pass enables smallholder farmers to build a digital transaction record that can facilitate formal credit or other financial services from banks and other financial institutions.

“Food security is a critical and urgent need in these times. We must therefore rise to the task by creating growth opportunities across the agriculture value chain in Africa. Our partnership with Mastercard has come at the right time to accelerate smallholder farmers’ access to urgently needed financial services, which are vital to realising Africa’s full agricultural potential. It will also help deliver value across the farming and agricultural value chain to make farming in Africa more profitable, competitive, and resilient, thus contributing to the economic growth of the continent,” says Ade Ayeyemi, CEO of Ecobank Group.

“When we empower people, we can power economies and support economic growth that is truly inclusive. Mastercard Farm Pass contributes to this by offering a digital platform that makes it easier for smallholder farmers to move from subsistence to commercial farming. This, in turn, will stimulate agricultural growth, increase competitiveness, and improve food security in Africa. Through close collaborations with important partners like Ecobank, we can create even more impact, putting the digital economy to work for everyone, everywhere,” says Michael Froman, Vice Chairman and President, Strategic Growth at Mastercard.

“The Mastercard Farm Pass collaboration with Ecobank Group fits well with the intent of the African Development Banks’s recently approved Africa Emergency Food Production Facility (AEFPF), which is to support countries to boost production and productivity on the continent for key staples. One of the key activities of AEFPF is to connect farmers through e-wallet systems, i.e. digitizing the procurement of agro inputs and at the same time allowing for reaching farmers in a transparent manner, which will truly revolutionize the transformation of agriculture,” says Solomon Quaynor, Vice President for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization, African Development Bank Group.

Since its launch in 2015, Mastercard Farm Pass has reached nearly one million smallholder farmers in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, and India, enabling them to command 25%-50% higher prices and increase harvest productivity.

Farm Pass is part of Mastercard’s strategy to connect underserved communities to essential services through Community Pass, a shared interoperable digital platform that supports the company’s commitment to connect one billion people and 50 million small and micro businesses to the digital economy by 2025. 

The award was given at its last meeting in Washington DC, United States of America.  

Africa Fintech Summit is a global knowledge-sharing platform that connects innovators, regulators and entrepreneurs, facilitating conversations and partnerships that help them explore financial technology solutions to improve African individuals, economies and societies.

The summit holds twice a year in Washington D.C. and a selected African country and sees stakeholders from around the world assemble to chart a progressive course for fintech in Africa by mobilizing investments, hashing out enabling policies, and sharing growth strategies.

The Summit which was the seventh edition of the bi-annual event, also recognized TeamApt for Excellence in Digital Banking, PiggyVest- Excellence in Savings and InvestTech, Flutterwave-Excellence in Fintech Infrastructure, while Excellence in Blockchain Technology went to Appzone Group. Others are Excellence in Fintech investment – Future Africa, Excellence in Cryptocurrency – Paxful, Excellence in Ecosystem Research – Briter Bridges, Excellence in Cross-border Solutions – PAPSS, Excellence in Payments – Paystack, Excellence in InsurTech – Turaco, Excellence in Fintech and Lending – Payhippo, Excellence in Embedded Fintech – Cellulant and Excellence in TradeTech – AFEX.

Dr. Tomisin Fashina, Group Executive, Operations & Technology, Ecobank, who received the award on behalf of the bank, said the award is well deserved as it was attributable to the Pan African Bank’s unparalleled influence in Africa and its unwavering support and numerous initiatives aimed at fostering relationship with fintechs to jointly win in the marketing place, stressing that the bank have put structures and initiatives in place to collaborate and cooperate with fintechs to facilitate the bank’s vision of financial integration of Africa.

According to him, “As a bank, one of our strategic objectives is to bank 100 million Africans, across Africa. We won’t go out there with account opening documents to do this. We believe we can achieve that by collaborating and cooperating across board, and the fintechs come into that space. We came out with ‘Ecobank as a service’, this is at the heart of why we published our sandbox to encourage fintechs, big techs and any player that want to do business in Africa to ride on our platforms and help facilitate our vision of a financially integrated Africa. We see ourselves as a key player in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and we believe we are the ultimate bank to facilitate trade across Africa.”

Ecobank has many initiatives to support growth of fintechs on the continent. The Ecobank Fintech Challenge launched in 2017 identifies and partners with fintechs that are ready to scale, providing them with mentoring, networking, support, and opportunities to access Ecobank’s 33 African markets, as well as opportunities to integrate with existing Ecobank digital offerings.

This has recorded significant results and success stories since its inception.

Ecobank’s Pan-African Banking Sandbox allows partners and Fintechs across 33 African countries gain access to its application programming interface to develop innovative financial solutions. As an avenue for collaboration between Ecobank and fintechs to develop the fintech ecosystem in Africa, Ecobank’s sandbox is an era-defining game changer for Africa’s financial sector.

Africa Fintech Summit, since 2018, has held six times, and has supported: Over $20 million in capital raise efforts for African startups; The launch of strategic partnerships and new businesses; Policy guideline creation; The growth of local tech and startup ecosystems;  Knowledge sharing for African banking/fintech operators and regulators.

Over the last few years, alongside key partners from global and Pan-African organisations, the Ecobank Foundation has made significant progress in Africa through its focus on three pillars, namely education, healthcare and financial empowerment. 

Desbordes-Cissé will be responsible for continuing that work. Her role will include overseeing the expansion and strengthening of activities and partnerships across Ecobank’s entire 33-country sub-Saharan Africa footprint. This will further cement Ecobank Foundation’s position as the preferred partner for creating positive impact in the lives of millions of people across the continent.   

Desbordes-Cissé has impressive experience and expertise in Communications and Corporate Social Responsibility, in addition to her strong advocacy skills. Throughout her 15-year career, she has worked for many Pan-African and international development institutions, including the African Development Bank Group, UNITLIFE (a United Nations Development Programme initiative), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the African Media Initiative, and the ONE Campaign.

The new COO has a Master’s degree in Political Science and Intercultural Management from the Institut d’Études Politiques d’Aix-en-Provence, France. She is a native French speaker and is also fluent in English, as well as proficient in both Spanish and German.

Commenting on her appointment, Ade Ayeyemi, CEO, Ecobank Group said: “Elisa Desbordes-Cissé’s appointment has come at an opportune time to further strengthen the Foundation’s Africa-focused commitment and purpose. We are certain that we will benefit from Elisa’s experience as we continue to impact our communities through the Foundation’s initiatives and programmes on health, education and financial empowerment.”

Ade Ayeyemi formally thanked Carl Manlan, the former Chief Operating Officer of the Ecobank Foundation for his great work in propelling the Foundation during the 5 years he served in that capacity, before leaving the Ecobank Group.