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A first cohort of 35 women entrepreneurs from 9 African countries successfully completed the Ecobank (www.Ecobank.com) Ellevate Leadership Training Programme. This is an innovative impact-driven programme, designed to equip women entrepreneurs with valuable leadership skills to be better empowered, and to equip them to empower their businesses and communities.

The Ellevate Leadership Training Programme is designed by Ecobank’s Commercial Banking Business and delivered by the Ecobank Academy in partnership with the Global Business School Network (GBSN).

Josephine Anan-Ankomah, Group Executive, Commercial Banking, said: “At Ecobank we are determined to grow and actualize the enormous potential of the female economy and help Africa’s female entrepreneurs succeed. Access to finance alone is not enough. Accordingly, though Ecobank is a provider of sustainable financing, we continue to invest in making available an array of non-financial interventions to sustain and grow women-led businesses faster and further across Africa. The Ecobank Ellevate Leadership Programme is part of Ellevate Equip, our Learning and Development Solution for women. It is exciting to see how Ecobank’s investment in upskilling women entrepreneurs is paying multifaceted dividends. We look forward to our graduates leveraging their new and enhanced skills to innovate, grow and positively impact clients, employees, other businesses and their communities.”

Dan LeClair, Chief Executive Officer, Global Business School Network, commented: “At the Global Business School Network we believe business leadership skills contribute to economic development. It is not just the participants who benefit, there is a multiplier effect as they invest in developing the leadership skills of their people and fostering the kind of business growth that leads to job creation. We are most proud of the class we had the privilege of teaching. They were simply wonderful – open, curious, serious, and engaged – and, for me, joining each session was a joy because of that.”

This pioneering graduating class was made up of 35 participants from Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. A formidable group from diverse sectors spanning Oil & Gas, Information and Communications Technology, Manufacturing, Education, Hospitality, Logistics, Commerce etc., who showed commitment and dedication throughout the programme.

The participants benefited from globally recognized faculty from Lagos Business School, MIT Sloan Global Programs, INSEAD Africa Initiative and INSEAD Gender Initiative, The American University of Cairo School of Business, Stanford SEED, University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business. These members of the Global Business School Network delivered modules on:

Emotional Intelligence
Leading with Authenticity
Defining your Strategic & Leadership approach
The Three Lenses: Mastering Influencing and Decision-Making Skills
Negotiating for Results
Leaders as Coaches
Sustainability and Leadership and
Innovative Partnership and Collaboration

Each of the women entrepreneurs received a certificate of completion from the Ecobank Group and GBSN at their graduation ceremony held earlier this month.

Ellevate by Ecobank is a multi-award-winning solution designed for businesses owned by women, managed by women, with a high percentage of female board members or employees, or companies that manufacture products for women. Ellevate customers benefit from smarter cash management solutions, favourable lending rates and value-added services such as leadership training and networking opportunities designed to bridge the financing gap and scale their businesses.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Ecobank.

Media Contact:

Christiane Bossom,
Group Corporate Communications Manager
Email: groupcorporatecomms@ecobank.com
Tel: +228 22 21 03 03

About Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (‘ETI’ or ‘The Group’):

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (‘ETI’) is the parent company of the Ecobank Group, the leading independent pan-African banking group. The Ecobank Group employs about 13,000 people and serves over 32 million customers from consumer, commercial and corporate & investment banking sectors across 33 African countries. The Group operates a banking licence in France and has representative offices in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Johannesburg, South Africa; Beijing, China; London, the UK and Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.

The Group offers a full suite of banking products, services and solutions, including bank and deposit accounts, loans, cash management, advisory, trade, securities, wealth and asset management as well as digital offerings. ETI is listed on the Nigerian Exchange in Lagos, the Ghana Stock Exchange in Accra, and the Bourse Régionale des Valeurs Mobilières in Abidjan. For further information please visit www.Ecobank.com

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