Page 18 - Ecobank Gambia Annual Report 2020
P. 18
Financial Statements & Annual Report
Managing Director’s address
foreign exchange, registered a growth of 2% year-on year. share from GMD0.63 per share from the previous year.
There was a significant decline in Commissions and Fees Return on assets grew to 4.5% (2020) from 4.4% (2019),
by 19% year-on-year; attributable to the direct impact however return on Equity dropped slightly to 37.6%
of the pandemic in reducing economic activity. The full (2020) from 38.7% (2019) despite increased profitability,
impact on non-funded income was reduced by the strong due to increased capital base from transfers from income
growth registered from fixed income revenues as the surplus.
country benefited from increased remittances from the HUMAN RESOURCES
diaspora and inflows related to Covid-19 relief support. In line with the implementation of our 2020 People
The Bank’s total assets grew by 17% year-on-year to Strategy, our focus was on the following key areas:
GMD10.9 billion (2020). The growth in assets was mainly i. Culture and Organizational Transformation which
driven by increases in the investment portfolio for
government securities, money market placements, Nostro encompassed implementing a Fit-for-Purpose
operating account balances, et cetera. The bank recorded organization, HR Transformation and introducing
an efficiency ratio of 44.3 percent during the period a values-based Behavioural Framework into
under review which represented a reduction of 200 basis Performance Management
points from the previous year. This was made possible ii. Employee Efficiency
through various optimization strategies which promoted iii. Institutionalization of Interventions Supporting the
efficiency while driving revenue growth. Despite the Talent Agenda
increased credit risk as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, iv. A continued focus on Learning and Development
the Bank was able to maintain a non-performing loan We recognize that to deliver sustainably on our
ratio of 1.6%. This represents a slight increase of 10 basis transformation journey, our culture and people must
points from the prior year. make a distinct difference. In 2020, we started the
The Bank continues to register growth in customer implementation of an action plan derived from the
deposits with a growth of 15% year-on-year to feedback garnered from the Ethical Culture survey which
approximately GMD9 billion as at end-December 2020. revealed the areas where we needed improvement and
The investments made by the Bank in developing those that we needed to build on to succeed further. This
world-class cash management solutions to meet the action plan comprises a framework for ethical decision-
diverse and unique customer needs has given the Bank making, underpinned by a set of values. These values are
a competitive edge in attracting and retaining cheap - Respect, Accountability, Customer-Centricity, Excellence,
sources of funds. The Bank continues to register increased Integrity and Teamwork (RACE-IT). These values will
uptake and utilization of our cash managements products also be incorporated into our Performance Assessment
like Ecobankpay, OMNI lite and OMNI Plus by both our framework for 2021.
commercial and corporate customers. These products We approached employee efficiency with a two-pronged
give flexibility and convenience to customers to conduct strategy. On one hand we focused on equipping our
their transactions within the comfort of their homes and people with the necessary tools to better serve our
business premises and are even more relevant now customers; and on the other, we ensured that our staffing
because of the limitations placed on movement as a ratio reflected our customer, operations, technology,
result of the Covid-19 pandemic. controls and broader business needs. We have made the
The Bank has also upgraded its award winning continent- investments needed in technology thereby enabling us
wide unified Ecobank mobile app to a more robust to shift from just ‘physical’ to ‘digital’ and reduce our cost-
version with more delightful features. In addition to to-serve.
the numerous benefits that our customers have been With a focus driven by controls and efficiency during
enjoying, the upgraded version enables our customers to goalsetting, we have successfully deployed a new
use virtual cards, split their payments, and send money assessment model and a performance management
through SMS messaging. scorecard. In addition to our standard performance
The bank is fundamentally sound and well capitalized management cycle, the performance culture is being
with a Capital Adequacy ratio (CAR) of 34.1% as at year- strengthened through weekly Widely Important Goals
ended 2020, up from 24.5% from the previous year. (WIGs) sessions where we go through the progress on
This is well above the minimum regulatory requirement
of 10%. Earnings per share increased to GMD0.77 per www.ecobank.com
16 Ecobank Gambia Annual Report 2020
