Ecobank Nigeria

{{Infobox company

| name = Ecobank Plc

| logo =

| type = Public Company
NSE: EBN

| foundation = 1989{{cite web|url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?ticker=ECOBANK:NL |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120712083208/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?ticker=ECOBANK:NL |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 July 2012 |title=Ecobank Nigeria Founded In 1989 |work=BusinessWeek |accessdate=30 December 2011}}

| location = Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria

| key_people = Bola Adesola
Chairman (Nigerian)
Bolaji Lawal
Managing Director (Nigerian)

| num_employees =

| revenue =

| assets = US$8.1 billion (NGN:1.32 trillion) (2011)

| industry = Financial services

| products = Loans, savings, investments, debit and credit cards, mortgages

| homepage = {{url|ecobank.com/ng/}}

}}

ECOBANK NIGERIA LIMITED, commonly referred to as Ecobank Nigeria, is a commercial bank in Nigeria. It is one of the commercial banks licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, the national banking regulator.{{cite web|url=http://www.cbn.gov.ng/Supervision/Inst-DM.asp |title=List of Licensed Commercial Banks in Nigeria |publisher=Cbn.gov.ng |date=7 January 1959 |accessdate=30 December 2011}}

Overview

The bank began operations in 1989. It operates as a universal bank, providing wholesale, retail, corporate, investment and transaction banking services to its customers in the Nigerian market. The bank divides its operations into three major divisions: (a) Retail Banking, (b) Wholesale Banking and (c) Treasury & Financial Institutions. The bank also offers capital markets and investment banking services.{{cite web|url=http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?ticker=ECOBANK:NL |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120712083208/http://investing.businessweek.com/research/stocks/snapshot/snapshot.asp?ticker=ECOBANK:NL |url-status=dead |archive-date=12 July 2012 |title=Overview of Ecobank Nigeria Plc |work=BusinessWeek |accessdate=30 December 2011}} During the fourth quarter of 2011, Ecobank Nigeria through its parent company Ecobank Transnational Inc. (ETI) acquired 100% of the shareholding in Oceanic Bank, creating the expanded Ecobank Nigeria Limited.{{cite web|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201112271998.html |title=Ecobank Nigeria Acquires Oceanic Bank |publisher=Allafrica.com |date=24 December 2011 |accessdate=30 December 2011}} {{asof|December 2011}}, the expanded Ecobank Nigeria controlled total assets valued at approximately US$8.1 billion (NGN:1.32 trillion), making it one of the five largest banks in Nigeria at the time.{{cite web|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201112271092.html |title=Ecobank Nigeria's Total Assets Over NGN:1.32 Trillion |publisher=Allafrica.com |date=27 December 2011 |accessdate=30 December 2011}} At that time the bank had 610 freestanding branches, making it the second-largest bank in the country by branch network.{{Cite news|url=http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/632336-ecobank-s-long-serving-ceo-steps-down.html|title=Ecobank’s long serving CEO steps down|work=newvision.co.ug|access-date=2017-08-29}}

Ecobank network

Ecobank Nigeria is a member of Ecobank, the leading independent pan-African bank, headquartered in Lomé, Togo, with affiliates in West, Central and East Africa. Ecobank, which was established in 1985, has grown to a network of over 1,000 branches, employing over 10,000 people, with offices in 32 countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cape Verde, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Côte d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Mali, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Sao Tome, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.{{cite web|url=http://www.ecobank.com/group/aboutus.aspx |title=The Ecobank Network |publisher=Ecobank.com |accessdate=18 June 2012}} Ecobank also maintains a banking subsidiary in Paris and representative offices in Johannesburg, Dubai and London.{{cite web|url=http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Ecobank+sees+turnaround+of+East+Africa+units+/-/539552/1430474/-/p31qouz/-/index.html |title=Ecobank Has Banking Presence in Africa, Europe & The Middle East|publisher=Businessdailyafrica.com |date=18 June 2012|accessdate=18 June 2012}}

Parent company

Ecobank Transnational Inc. (ETI) is the parent company of the Ecobank Group, which includes the following specialized subsidiaries:[http://www.leadcapitalng.com/resources/ecobank.pdf Ecobank Subsidiaries] {{dead link|date=May 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}

Ecobank Development Corporation (EDC) – Lomé, Togo
EDC Investment Corporation – Abidjan, Ivory Coast
EDC Investment Corporation – Douala, Cameroon
EDC Securities Limited – Lagos, Nigeria
EDC Stockbrokers Limited – Accra, Ghana
Ecobank Asset Management – Abidjan, Ivory Coast
e-Process International SA – Lomé, Togo
ECV Servicios – Praia, Cape Verde

The stock of ETI is traded on three African stock exchanges: the Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE), the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) and the BRVM stock exchange in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.{{cite web |url=http://www.ecobank.com/english/investors/shareholders.aspx?RubID=4&SRubID=14&SSRubID=18 |title=Ecobank Shareholding & Investment Matters |publisher=Ecobank.com |accessdate=30 December 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090418172801/http://www.ecobank.com/english/investors/shareholders.aspx?RubID=4&SRubID=14&SSRubID=18 |archive-date=18 April 2009 |url-status=dead}}

Branch network

As of December 2011, the expanded Ecobank Nigeria Limited. is projected to have in excess of 600 branches, in all parts of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, following the merger of Oceanic Bank.{{cite web|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201112271092.html |title=Ecobank Nigeria With Over 600 Branches |publisher=Allafrica.com |date=2 January 2011 |accessdate=30 December 2011}}

Legal disputes

=Honeywell=

The dispute between Honeywell Group is an ongoing legal battle over debt repayment, which commenced in 2015.{{cite web |title=Appeals Court dismisses Ecobank winding-up petition against Honeywell |url=https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/05/acourt-dismisses-ecobank-winding-up-petition-against-honeywell/ |website=Vanguard News |access-date=24 March 2025}} Ecobank alleged that Honeywell owed it about N3.5 billion in unpaid loans. Honeywell subsequently insisted that it had fully repaid the debt and accused Ecobank of unfair practices. In 2018 Honeywell filed a suit claiming N72 billion in damages from the bank for reputational losses suffered as a result of the asset-freezing ex-parte order.

Honeywell sought the intervention of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria's (CIBN) Sub-Committee on Ethics and Professionalism Bankers' Committee.{{cite web |title=Honeywell Sues Ecobank N72bn for Damages after Failed Ex-parte |url=https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2018/09/25/honeywell-sues-ecobank-n72bn-for-damages-after-failed-ex-parte/ |website=This Day |access-date=24 March 2025}} At the end of the review of the arguments adduced by Honeywell and Ecobank, the Bankers' Committee ruled in Honeywell's favor by resolving that the payment of N3.5 billion by Honeywell was indeed full and final settlement of its obligations to Ecobank and Honeywell was not indebted to Ecobank.{{cite web |title=Court awards Honeywell N72.2 billion damages against Ecobank |url=https://www.thecable.ng/just-in-court-awards-honeywell-n72-2-billion-damages-against-ecobank/ |website=The Cable |access-date=24 March 2025}}

The case has so far gone through various courts, including the Federal High Court, the Court of Appeal, and the Supreme Court of Nigeria.{{cite web |title=New Twist in Ecobank, Honeywell Debt Saga |url=https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2023/07/23/new-twist-in-ecobank-honeywell-debt-saga/ |website=This Day |access-date=24 March 2025}} In 2022, the court ruled in favour of Honeywell, affirming that the company had settle its obligations. Ecobank has challenged the ruling.

=Wilben Trade=

In December 2024, a $68 million claim was launched in Dubai against Jeremy Awori, CEO of Ecobank Transnational Inc, and ETI's subsidiaries; ETI Special Resolutions Company (ETISRC), and its Managing Director, Oladele 'Dele' Alabi; Ecobank Nigeria Limited (commonly referred to as Ecobank Nigeria), on allegations of defamation, abusive proceedings, and coercion in Nigeria.{{cite web |title=The intriguing manoeuvres of Prem Chand Garg and Marcus Wade against Ecobank |url=https://www.theafricareport.com/375532/prem-chand-garg-and-marcus-wade-attack-ecobank-ceo-awori/ |website=The Africa Report |access-date=24 February 2025}}

The defendants are alleged to have attempted to coerce Wilben Trade and its CEO, Marcus Wade, into making substantial undue payments to Ecobank Nigeria and ETISRC following a loss suffered in 2015, in what Wilben's legal counsel has described as an extortion attempt.{{cite web |last1=Igwe |first1=Uche |title=African banks can leverage intra-African trade if they fix governance gaps |url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/africaatlse/2025/02/05/african-banks-can-leverage-intra-african-trade-if-they-fix-governance-gaps/ |publisher=London School of Economics (LSE) |access-date=24 February 2025}}

ETI's leadership, including CEO Awori, has reportedly been aware of ETISRC and its managing director Alabi's alleged extortion against Wilben Trade since August 2023 but has taken no action to stop it.{{cite web |title=EcoBank faces $68m legal suit in UAE over alleged defamation, abusive proceedings |url=https://www.ripplesnigeria.com/ecobank-faces-68m-legal-suit-in-uae-over-alleged-defamation-abusive-proceedings/ |website=Ripples Nigeria |access-date=24 February 2025}}

Awards

It was awarded the Best Bank for SMEs in Nigeria in 2024 by Global Finance.{{Cite web |title=Ecobank Group Secures Best Bank for SMEs in Africa 2024 by Global Finance – THISDAYLIVE |url=https://www.thisdaylive.com/index.php/2024/02/25/ecobank-group-secures-best-bank-for-smes-in-africa-2024-by-global-finance/ |access-date=2024-10-14 |website=www.thisdaylive.com}}