Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI) has signed an agreement with the Public Investment Corporation (PIC), South Africa, which is investing $250 million in its common equity, on behalf of Government Employment Pension Fund (GEPF).

ETI is the parent company of Ecobank Group, a pan-African banking group with presence in 32 countries.

The agreement was signed Monday on the sideline of the ongoing annual meetings of the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Group Chief Executive of ETI, Mr. Arnold Ekpe, signed for Ecobank while Chairman of PIC and Deputy Finance Minister for South Africa, Mr. Nhlanhla Musa Nene, and Chief Executive Officer of PIC, Mr. Elias Masilela signed on behalf of PIC.

According to PIC, the investment will represent its first major direct investment in Africa outside South Africa and is in line with GEPF’s investment strategy, which has identified Africa as the next frontier for investment growth. The deal is expected to strengthen Ecobank’s tier one capital and further enhance its ability to grow its business across the African continent.

In line with the terms of the agreement, the $250 million share purchase will be effected by the issuance of 3,125,000 shares in Ecobank, representing 19.58 per cent of the total outstanding number of shares. The significant investment will enable PIC to take a seat on the board of Ecobank.

Commenting, Ekpe said: “With GEPF as a shareholder, Ecobank will now have a slate of highly reputable local and international shareholders and our equity capital raining programme is coming to an end. Our unparalleled presence across sub-Saharan Africa and our knowledge of local markets will also facilitate the GEPF’s investment plan for Africa.”

In his own remarks, Masilela stated: “We are excited about the proposed investment we will make in Ecobank. We strongly believe that this is a significant step that will complement the Africa strategy of our major client, GEPF, which seeks to take advantage of private equity opportunities on the continent.

“With this one investment, we will be immediately optimising our footprint on the rest of the continent, an action that would otherwise require multiple investments and huge effort as well as resource allocation,” he added.

Source: Thisday/Kunle Aderinokun