The Co-operative Bank has been named ‘best bank in Kenya’ at this year’s African Banking Awards 2020 organised by EMEA Finance.
The EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) Finance Awards recognise financial institutions which, through client focus and sound leadership, continue to increase profitability, deliver affordable credit to the retail and wholesale markets, and support local and transnational corporations do business.
This is the third time Co-op is being awarded by EMEA, having won again in 2018 and 2019.
Co-op Bank continues to receive wide recognition for outstanding performance, especially on practices that address current global concerns including sustainability and financial inclusion, management said in a statement.
During this year’s awards, 78 commercial and investment banks across the continent were recognized with other local banks being Stanbic Bank Kenya (best investment bank) and EFG Hermes Kenya (best broker).
The Co-op bank’s award comes in quick succession to recent accolades that saw its energy manager Albert Ouma named ‘Energy Manager of the Year in Sub Sahara
Africa’ by the global Association of Energy Engineers, for his outstanding accomplishment in promoting the principles and practices of energy management.
In addition, the bank recently joined the global financial community in signing up to the United for Wildlife 2018 Mansion House Declaration, committing to fight the illegal trafficking in wildlife by way of building illegal wildlife trade into existing financial crime compliance programs.
Co-op was also named Overall Winner of the Kenya Bankers Association (KBA) 2019 Sustainable Finance Catalyst Award.
The Awards recognize institutions that practice sustainable finance which has a direct positive impact on the financial sector, the economy, the environment and the society.
The bank was also named Best Bank in Sustainable Finance in Kenya at the June 2019 Energy Management Awards hosted by the Kenya Association of Manufacturers and also feted as Overall Winner in Environmental Sustainability Reporting at the 2019 East African Financial Reporting (FiRe) Awards.
Commenting on the recent accolades, CEO Gideon Muriuki said: “As a bank that is predominantly-owned by the over 15 million-member Co-operative movement that is the face of Kenya, we are inclusive by design.”
“This has enabled us to not only deliver shared prosperity today, but also helped us build an awareness and prudence to avoid making decisions that may put future generations in jeopardy,” he added.
According to EMEA Finance, this year has presented “complex challenges and difficult operating environments the likes that have not been seen for many decades”, as Covid-19 continues to ravage economies.
