Annual Report 2007 - Investing In Africa

Corporate Social Responsibility
Our corporate social responsibility programmes
are guided by our dual mission of building a
world class African bank and contributing to the
economic and financial development of Africa.
Ecobank Foundation contributed to several
projects during the year as outlined in the
Corporate Social Responsibility section of this
report.
Our alliance with ACCION to build a pan-
African microfinance business continues and
several initiatives were commenced in Ghana,
Benin, Senegal and Chad. Our microfinance
initiatives are contributing to poverty alleviation
in those countries in which we operate.
Corporate Transparency
Our policies require us to strive to operate to
international standards. Ecobank is fully
compliant with International Financial
Reporting Standards both at the group and
parent company level.
Our annual reports have been designed to ensure
that they provide information to international
standards and provide relevant information to
shareholders, investors and the general public.
People and Processes
We continue to invest in developing our people
and modernising our processes, capacity building,
skill acquisition and process improvements.
The impact of these initiatives will be increasingly
felt in 2008 and beyond as we seek to modernise
the group and bring it to international standards.
The Future
Africa as a whole is going through a positive
period of sustained growth resulting not only from
the high commodity prices but also from improved
governance, lower interest and inflation rates and
the inflow of foreign investments both from the
West and increasingly from China, India and the
Middle East. Despite the turmoil in the international
financial markets and the uncertainty of a
recession in the developed economies, we expect
growth in our region to continue, albeit at a lower
rate.
In 2008, we will build and consolidate on the
initiatives we have started. We will maintain our
strategy to build scale, grow the group and
improve operating efficiency in order to deliver
superior shareholder value. We will raise additional
capital to support the growth of the group. We
will maintain our strategy of diversification
whilst also concentrating on the core businesses;
and we will seek to improve our ability to better
service and add value to our customers.
In achieving our results, we have benefited
from the confidence that our shareholders,
regulators, customers and employees have
shown in Ecobank not only as a model of regional
integration in Africa but also in those issues
that we hold dear namely our regional identity,
our strive for excellence and our independence.
As we celebrate our 20 th anniversary, we would
like to thank the founding shareholders for their
vision and commitment in setting up Ecobank.
We look forward to working together with all
our stakeholders to deliver the promise that
Ecobank holds as an African group seeking to
build a world class institution.
Mandé Sidibé
Chairman
7
... The Pan African Bank