Annual Report 2007 - Investing In Africa

make proposals for a further sub-division of the
company’s shares at the 2008 General Meeting
to improve the liquidity of the shares and make
it more accessible to the generality of the
African population.
An ad hoc committee was appointed to make
proposals for the 20th anniversary celebrations.
The Committee is continuing with its work.
Corporate Governance and Compliance
Due to circumstances beyond the control of the
board of directors, the US$300 million capital
increase approved by the shareholders at the
Extraordinary General Meeting of 26 th January
2007 could not be implemented. The board will
table a new resolution at the 2008 General
Meeting to raise additional capital in line with
the strategy and growth of the group.
Directors and Company Secretary
The names of the directors of the company and
the name of the Company Secretary appear on
pages 10 to 13 of this report.
The company maintains corporate policies and
standards designed to encourage good and
transparent corporate governance, avoid
potential conflicts of interest and promote ethical
business practices. See pages 15 to 20 for
details.
The Group Corporate Governance Charter was
revised and updated in line with developments
within the group as well as recommendations
by the International Finance Corporation (IFC)
Corporate Governance Unit.
Subsidiaries
As at 31st December 2007, the board was composed
of twelve (12) directors: seven (7) non
executive and five (5) executive directors. Mr.
Kofi Bucknor resigned from the board on 18 th
April 2007. Mr. Christophe Jocktane-Lawson
was assigned a new responsibility as Group
Head of International business that was not a
directorship position under the organisational
structure of the group. He therefore stepped
down from the board on 2 nd August 2007.
The board of directors met six (6) times during
the year. Each of the three (3) board committees
(Governance; Audit and Compliance; and Risk)
met three (3) times during the year to deliberate
on issues under their respective responsibilities.
During 2007, operations started in five more
countries, namely, Central Africa Republic, the
Gambia, Guinea Bissau, Rwanda and Sao Tome
and Principe; bringing the total number of
countries in which Ecobank operates to 20 as at
the end of 2007. At the beginning of 2008,
operations started in Congo Brazzaville and
Malawi thus bringing the total number of countries
in which the group has operations to 22 as
at the date of this annual report. As at the end
of the year, work was continuing to secure
operational licences in Burundi, Democratic
Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon,
Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
9
... The Pan African Bank