TheCable

Two Nigerian banks, United Bank for Africa (UBA) and Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), have been nominated for the African Bank of the year at the ongoing Africa CEO Forum.

The Africa CEO Forum, the foremost international meeting of top African business leaders, kicked off on Monday at the InterContinental Hotel, Geneva, Switzerland.

The two-day event, which will provide outstanding networking opportunities, attracts almost 800 participants every year, including more than 500 African CEOs, 100 influential bankers and financiers, and 200 African and international personalities who are driving economic growth in Africa.

Other Nigerian nominees for awards include Wale Tinubu, CEO Oando and Oba Otudeko, CEO Honeywell Group for the CEO of the Year award; while Nigeria’s Transcorp and IHSTowers Nigeria were nominated for African Company of the Year award.

The jury of the awards, composed of 17 experts from the investment, consulting and media industries, examines the applications passed on to it by the selection committee and draws up the list of winners. No one but the judges and the organisers know who the winners are until the award ceremony.

The forum is jointly organised by Groupe Jeune Afrique, a leading media group specialising in the African continent; Rainbow unlimited, a Swiss company promoting and facilitating business links between Switzerland and Africa; and, The African Development Bank.

Jeremy Rifkin, the keynote speaker at the forum, is the president of the foundation on economic trends, author, and senior lecturer at the University of Pennsylvania Wharton School of Business Executive Education Programme, where he instructs CEOs and senior management on transitioning their business operations into sustainable economies.

Geneva enjoys an exceptional location right in the heart of Europe and is home to the headquarters of many international organisations, including the United Nations, the World Trade Organisation, the International Organisation of Employers and the International Labour Organisation.