As a reminder, Ecobank, which is now present in no less than 34 countries in Africa, as elsewhere in the world, “started its banking operations in Senegal in 1999,” said Mr.Sahid Yallou, CEO of Ecobank Senegal.
According to him, Ecobank completed its 25 years of operations with positioning, which makes it one of the major players in the Senegalese banking sector.
Indeed, he explains, “we started with 50 people and 1 billion 500 million CFA francs, to reach today a team made up of 500 people and a share capital to 20 billion CFA francs, allowing Thus to be able to mobilize the resources necessary to finance the assets of a total of more than 1000 billion.
This sum, according to the director general of Ecobank Senegal, is distributed between, on the one hand, support for the State via public securities, and on the other hand, the financing of companies and small and medium -sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as the financing of individuals.
And Mr. Yallou to add, “We have during these 25 years of operations, impacted all sectors and economic agents. Our innovations and transformations have had notorious impacts on the market and the real economy in general. ”
Continuing the presentation of his record, not without a certain satisfaction, the director general of Ecobank also indicates the following: “We have, among other things, financed structuring projects in sectors such as tourism, construction. We have financed large industries, and small, and provided solutions to the needs of support for foreign trade ”.
Ecobank Senegal has, in fact, introduced marked innovations to the seal of banking digitalization, allowing a deemed pioneer customer experience on the market and from this point of view has actively contributed to financial inclusion so dear to development policies.
Payment of student scholarships
Precisely, concerning public policies, Ecobank played an important role alongside the State, on which Mr. Yallou wanted to insist, especially when he wonders as: “What to say about our central role in the support of The State of Senegal whenever necessary, and more particularly in the most critical moments, than that which is topical (the difficult state of public finances unveiled by the new authorities – editor’s note). He recalls in this sense, that they, with courage and self -denial, agreed to take up the challenge of supporting the State of Senegal in the payment of students’ scholarships, 15 years ago and thus participating in the pacification of campuses .
“Thanks to our digital capacities and the dedication of our teams, we have forgotten the difficult hours when our customers suffered difficulties in terms of agencies and automatic distributors each time the scholarships were paid,” recalls Sahid Yallou.
Besides, he did not fail to emphasize that they have established partnerships with fintechs which made it possible to send, with satisfaction, problems and special market demands.
-To customers and partners, he, before concluding his remarks, sent his “sincere thanks” for their permanent confidence during these years, which confidence he indicates was a crucial element to make possible the different achievements mentioned higher.
Testimonials
Alioune Diagne, former managing director of Axa Senegal : “My adventure with Ecobank started very early “.
It started with the opening of a personal account and after a few weeks, on October 3, 2000 precisely I made the establishment of a more or less consistent term deposit. I was far from imagining that one day I will integrate this board of directors as director general of AXA Senegal from 2013 to 2017, as administrator and from 2017 to 2024 as chairman of the board of directors of This institution which, I recall is the second shareholder of Ecobank Senegal.
During this magisterium, I made Ecobank the first AXA bank in terms of flows and banking operations. This led to the consolidation of a strategic and fruitful partnership. Today Ecobank participates up to 60 to 70% in the financial results of AXA Senegal. This means that yield, economic profitability, the return on investment is there. Bravo Ecobank!
This transition brings me to talk about my passage on the board of directors of Ecobank. These 25 years projected this emerging bank, which was a startup at the start in third place in terms of total balance sheet, first in second position in terms of net income and then at the forefront in terms of return to equity. Today, Ecobank is primary as a specialist in the value of the treasure (SVT) playing a key role in the support of the market. Finally, these results obtained in 25 years of existence constitute a remarkable feat, if we know that the first two leaders, so as not to appoint them Attijari and Société Générale made 100 years to reach these results and this positioning in Senegalese banking landscape summit. »»
Ousmane Sy Ndiaye, Jappo Executive Director : “We are now celebrating the 25th anniversary of the favorite bank of the Unacois. I am with the president of the Unacois Idy Thiam whom I accompany. He wanted me to show our satisfaction in collaboration with Ecobank. The informal sector is renowned for its lack of organization. And people must be surprised and ask the question to know how Unacois was able to establish a partnership with a bank of the dimension of Ecobank. It’s new! It has never intervened in history! It’s a first! And it is a partnership that has challenged all economic theories. This partnership has today enabled the informal sector to access the banking and resources of the bank.
A very strong illustration: an economic interest group (GIE) of 250 women, installed at the Guédiawaye market has been banished and funded by Ecobank for 4 years now. We were able, in a context of the acute crisis of COVID-19, where everyone had addressed the State to have support, to lift, and for the first time in the history of the Unacois, a 5 billion envelope for our merchants. It was a big challenge. This means that Ecobank knows how to take care of the smallest, large and adults. We were able to destockerup to 7 or 8 billion of Sonacos oil in a particular context, where it did not stand in the face of competition from imported oil. Ecobank set up the system which made it possible to completely destock the 7 billion oil which was unsold at the level of the Sonacos. »»
Babacar Tall, Managing Director of Elton Senegal : “For Elton, this anniversary is special, because like Ecobank, we are also celebrating our 25th birthday this year. From the start we shared everything: the same buildings, the same colors and the same ambitions for Senegal. We grew up together and at some point each went to get a larger space, and we found ourselves on the same avenue. In addition to this geographic proximity, it is a story that unites us. Like all companies, we had to spend fairly difficult moments. Almost all banks were fleeing from us. It is only Ecobank who says: “Come, we believe in you, in your dream and we support you”. Ecobank has reached out to us and today thanks to this support, Elton, with a turnover of 500 billion, is one of the largest companies in Senegal. »»
Bassirou Mbaye
