EBID’s Board Chairman to receive award in Belgium
The President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID), Dr George Agyekum Donkor, has been nominated for an international honour- the Development Champion Award.
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The award, instituted by the Rebranding Africa Forum, will be presented during a special ceremony in Brussels, Belgium, as part of the ninth edition of the forum in October 2023.
The Development Champion Award is in recognition of Dr Donkor’s contributions to fast-tracking development in the ECOWAS subregion, by championing the implementation of various measures to support private-sector expansion and public-sector promotion while addressing infrastructural challenges.
ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) is the Development Finance Institution of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) comprising 15 member states namely, Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Togo.
Forum
The Rebranding Africa Forum is an annual event that brings political personalities, business leaders and young impact makers together to generate partnerships, discuss strategies and coordinate their efforts while putting the spotlight on relevant socio-economic trends.
Not only will he be receiving an award, Dr Donkor will also serve as a keynote speaker for the 2023 programme to be held on the theme: “Evolving African financial systems- Reconciling authenticity and modernity: Pathways towards financial inclusion”.
Some of the speakers, who had graced previous events, included former United Kingdom Prime Minister, Tony Blair, and Belgium’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hadja Lahbib.
Winner again
This is the second time Dr Donkor will be picking an international award, having received the prestigious Crans Montana Forum Prix de la Fondation award in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2022.
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In addition to the awards, he was also named by Financial Afrik Magazine as one of the Top 100 Personalities Transforming Africa.
A lawyer by profession and development banker by training, Dr Donkor’s career has been devoted to strategic governance with an insistence on continuous improvement to deliver tangible results.
Under his capable leadership, EBID has chalked up numerous successes since 2020, notably in the areas of governance, mobilisation of resources, and financial and operational performance, among others.
In 2022, International rating agencies, Fitch Ratings and Moody’s, noting EBID’s recent advancements, upgraded its rating to B with Stable Outlook and B2 with Stable Outlook, respectively, which was a first in the history of the bank. Additionally, in 2023, the bank received an A+ rating in the 12th Peer Review of African DFIs from the Association of African Development Finance Institutions (AADFI) for its commitment to excellence while promoting sustainable development.