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It has been announced that several prominent Nigerian banks such as GTBank, FirstBank, FBN Capital and Diamond Bank have all been nominated among the shortlisted finalists for African Banker magazine’s 2014 African Banker Awards. The recently disclosed shortlist reveals the banks and financial institutions in the running for the top prizes available for the eighth edition of the annual competition. Omar Ben Yedder, Group Publisher of African Banker magazine and head of the African Banker Awards Committee, was particularly impressed by the entries in the Deal of the Year (“Equity” and “Debt”) categories stating: “It has been encouraging and fascinating to read the entries in the deal of the year categories, which are the most competitive of the lot. The transactions are encouraging because of their level of sophistication and also they highlight the amount of activity now taking place throughout the continent, some of which transformative, such as what we are seeing in the power sector. Another encouraging aspect is the fact that many of these deals are being financed and structured by local African banks in conjunction with global partners.” The African Banker Awards was one of the first events created exclusively for the sector to celebrate and recognise the individuals and financial institutions contributing to the rapid modernisation of Africa’s banking industry and to changed perceptions of the continent’s domestic and international markets. It remains the only competition event exclusively for the African banking community to be endorsed by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the High Patron of the event and the leading sponsor. TThe final winners will be announced at the prestigious Awards ceremony and gala dinner on the 21st May in Kigali, Rwanda, during the African Development Bank Annual Meetings. The African Banker Awards is organised by African Banker magazine and BusinessinAfrica Events. A distinguished and independent panel of judges, known and respected for their expertise on the African banking and finance industry, will decide the final winners of shortlisted categories. As well as the AfDB the Awards are sponsored by East African Development Bank as Regional Host, Emerging Markets Payments as Platinum Sponsor and MasterCard as Lead Sponsor. Other sponsors and supporters include Banque Centrale Populaire, BGFI Bank, GTBank, Development Bank of Rwanda, Bank of Kigali, Oracle Financial Services, Bank of Industry, Ecobank Nedbank Alliance, Travelex, CRDB Bank, Wavetec, Amethis Finance, FirstBank Nigeria, the Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector, BFI, RSwitch, Rwanda Bankers’ Association and Rwanda Development Board. Below is the shortlist: African Bank of the Year * Attijariwafa Bank, Morocco * BMCE, Morocco * GTBank, Nigeria * Nedbank, South Africa * Standard Bank, South Africa African Banker of the Year * Bisi Onasanya, Group MD/CEO, First Bank of Nigeria * Bola Adesola, MD/CEO, Standard Chartered Bank, South Africa * Dr. Charles Kimei, CRDB Bank, Tanzania * Joao Figueiredo, Banco Unico, Mozambique * Pedro Pinto Coelho, CEO, Standard Bank, Angola * Segun Agbaje, MD/ CEO, Guaranty Trust Bank, Nigeria * Vivienne Yeda, Director General, East African Development Bank, Uganda Investment Bank of the Year * EFG Hermes, Egypt * Citi Group, South Africa * FBN Capital, Nigeria * Rand Merchant Bank, South Africa * Vetiva, Nigeria Award for Innovation in Banking * Banco Unico, Mozambique * Banque Centrale Populaire, Morocco * Citi, USA * FirstBank, Nigeria * Nedbank, South Africa Socially Responsible Bank of the Year * Barclays Africa Group, South Africa * Fidelity Bank, Nigeria * GTBank, Nigeria * Investec Asset Management, South Africa * Nedbank, South Africa Award for Financial Inclusion * ACSI, Ethiopia * Barclays, Uganda * Diamond Bank, Nigeria * MasterCard, UAE * Trust Merchant Bank, DR Congo Deal of the Year – Equity * “Fidelity Bank”, Amethis Finance, France * “OCI N.V’s US$ 10.5bn acquisition offer”, Barclays Bank, Egypt * “Atlas Mara Co-Nvest – US$325m IPO”, Citigroup Global Markets, UK * “AECI sale of property assets to Shanghai Zendai”, Standard Bank, South Africa * “Oando Plc $341 million rights issue on the Nigerian Stock Exchange and JSE Limited,” Vetiva, Nigeria Deal of the Year – Debt * “Republic of South Africa – US$2billion 5.875% Eurobond due 2025”, Standard Bank and RMB, UK * “Roll-out of Africa’s largest petroleum oil refinery and petrochemical/fertilizer plant by Dangote Group”, Standard Chartered Bank, UK * “Implats Dual Currency Convertible Bond”, Standard Bank, South Africa * “Project Desert KERL”, FBN Capital, Nigeria * “$500m financing facility to Government of Senegal”, Banque Centrale Populaire, Morocco * “Avon and Dedisa peaking power transactions”, Nedbank Capital, South Africa Fund of the Year * Amethis Finance, France * Emerging Capital Partners, UK * Investec Africa Credit Opportunities Fund and Credit Opportunities Fund. UK * Investec Asset Management, South Africa * Standard Chartered Private Equity, South Africa Best Retail Bank in Africa * Banque Centrale Populaire, Morocco * GTBank, Nigeria * Nedbank, South Africa * State Bank Mauritius * United Bank for Africa, Nigeria