African Banker Awards 2023 winners announced

African Banker Awards 2023 winners announced

The African Banker Awards 2023 Gala Ceremony, the most prestigious event in the African banking calendar, took place last night at the Rixos Hotel in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt on the sidelines of the African Development Bank Annual Meetings. The ceremony was attended by over 300 of the continent’s leading bankers, regulators, and policymakers.

Now in its 17th edition, the African Banker Awards celebrate the achievements of individuals and institutions that have contributed significantly to the growth and development of Africa's banking sector over the past year.

Highlights from the ceremony:

Esther Kariuki becomes the second woman to win African Banker of the Year Award

Perhaps one of the most coveted prizes of the evening, the African Banker of the Year prize was awarded to Esther Kariuki, Head of Agriculture Business at the Co-op Bank of Kenya. Ms Kariuki has been a central figure in advancing agriculture as a key asset class for her institution. Not only a leader and role model, she was also responsible for considerably increasing lending to the agriculture sector and oversaw the roll-out of the platform Co-op Bank Soko, a digital marketplace that connects the agriculture value chain and ensures, among other things, that small-holder farmers receive a higher