Portugal’s third largest commercial bank, Banco Espírito Santo (‘BES’) and the Ecobank Group, the leading pan-African banking group with a presence in 32 African countries, have entered into a cooperation agreement to develop trade and investments between Portugal and Africa.
The Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”), which was signed at BES’ Lisbon headquarters on July 13th 2012, envisages joint effort and cooperation on the network of customers and branches of both banks to support and encourage trade and investments between Portugal and Africa and in particular Lusophone Africa.
Mr. Arnold Ekpe, Ecobank’s Group CEO, remarked:
“We look forward to working with BES to develop trade and investments between Portugal and Africa. Ecobank is currently present in 3 Lusophone countries and this alliance will enable us to leverage our presence and local knowledge in these countries as well as in the other countries in Africa where we are present to better serve BES’s customers in Portugal and Europe doing business in Africa”
Mr. Ricardo Salgado, President of BES, added:
“There is already a deep connection between Portugal and Africa, owing to our shared heritage. We look forward to working closely with Ecobank to capitalize on the trade and investment opportunities that are springing up, particularly as a result of growing trade between Portugal and Africa”
Notes to Editors
About Banco Espírito Santo
Headquartered in Lisbon, Banco Espírito Santo is the largest bank in Portugal by market capitalization, present in 25 countries and 4 continents, which focuses on geographies with cultural and economic ties with Portugal. The Bank organizes its business into six operational segments: National Commercial Banking, International Commercial Banking, Investment Banking, Asset Management, Markets and Strategic Investments and Corporate Centre. Additional information may be found at http://www.bes.pt/.
About Ecobank Group
Incorporated in Lomé, Togo, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated is the parent company of the leading independent pan-African banking group. It currently has a presence in 32 African countries, namely: Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Democratic Republic), Côte d’Ivoire, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
The Group is also represented in France through its affiliate EBI S.A. in Paris. ETI also has representative office in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and London, UK. ETI is listed on the stock exchanges in Lagos, Accra and the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) – the BRVM in Abidjan. The Group has more than 600,000 local and international institutional and individual shareholders. The Group has 18,321 employees in 35 countries and 1,180 branches and offices.
Ecobank is a full-service bank providing wholesale, retail, investment and transaction banking services and products to governments, financial institutions, multinationals, international organizations, medium, small and micro businesses and individuals. Additional information may be found at http://www.ecobank.com.
