The major organ dedicated to promoting the corporate social responsibility of Ecobank Transnational
Incorporated is Ecobank Foundation, an African-focused organisation which is set on the mission to improve the quality of life for people across the continent. It does its work by deploying the bank’s resources, knowledge and expertise with the aim of unlocking opportunities for African communities in which Ecobank operates.
Ecobank Foundation focuses on three key areas, namely health, education and financial empowerment.
In the health sector, it has recently partnered with the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to support its grant recipients in Nigeria, Senegal and South Sudan by strengthening skills in order to alleviate financial bottlenecks.
The Global Fund mobilises $4 billion a year to support programmes in 140 countries worldwide, 65% of which is dedicated to Sub-Saharan Africa.
Ecobank Foundation’s contribution to the Global Fund – split in cash contributions and services in kind – adds up to $3 million pledged over three years. Although focusing on capacity building, Ecobank advocates globally on behalf of the cause and also mobilises its 20,000 African employees in CSR activities.
For NGOs and public organisations that receive these grants to support malaria, tuberculosis and HIV programmes in the target countries, strong financial management is essential. Ecobank works together with Accounting for International Development (AfID), which hires volunteer consultants to work alongside staff to provide relevant training. Examples of the wide array of issues include budgeting skills, risk management assessment and accounting system skills.
One of the main aims of the partnership is the strengthening of skills of the Global Fund’s grant recipients through financial training as strong financial management is essential for non-governmental organisations and public organisations that receive Global Fund grants to support HIV, tuberculosis and malaria programmes.
As part of the collaboration, Ecobank also gives financial advice to the Global Fund Treasury about the banking context in Africa and we advocate globally on behalf of the organisation, mobilising our 16,000 employees in the fight against the three diseases.
Ecobank Group CEO
Still on health, Ecobank Group has also been a strong supporter of the African Union (AU) initiative which created a COVID-19 Response Fund to mitigate its impact on African populations.
Ecobank is supporting the AU enterprise and has set up a special partnership with the AU to help raise funds, using its own network and staff to raise money for the cause, leading to the bank contributing $3 million to combat COVID-19.
The bank also created a TV advert campaign that runs on the BBC and CNN to unite the efforts to fight the pandemic and urge Africans to practice preventative measures.
The COVID-19 Response Fund was established by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Mr. Moussa Faki Mahamat and Africans are encouraged to “give a little” to the fund.
Money raised will be used to mitigate the social, economic and humanitarian impact of COVID-19 in all African countries, such as the procurement and distribution of essential medical equipment and supplies. It will enable the pool procurement of diagnostics for distribution to the Member States, and the deployment of a million community and healthcare workers to support contact tracing and testing.
Related to the COVID-19 project is the undertaking by the Ecobank Group to embark on a range of measures to help surrounding communities and protect staff and customers. Ecobank provided cash support as well as healthcare equipment and supplies and instigated community awareness-raising campaigns on social media. It also used its digital platform to help vulnerable members of communities, by making some bank charges free on its digital channels.
Ecobank Group CEO Ade Adeyemi says: ‘We believe in the importance of creating awareness in our communities, while also empowering them to protect themselves and their families as we battle the pandemic. We observed required social distancing and disinfected offices and branches. Our ATMs and call centres remain open and the full range of banking services are available via our digital platforms’.
The engine for implementing these CSR health projects and others in the group is Ecobank Foundation, headed by Carl Manlan as Chief Operating Officer.
Ecobank Foundation COO
To achieve its goals, the foundation has also focused on harnessing the talents of Ecobank employees across 33 countries. In addition to direct financial support of malaria prevention programmes in Mozambique and Nigeria, it is supporting the Global Fund and its local partners to develop technology-led solutions to finance challenges such as cash management and delivering mobile money support. Another example of this is providing mobile banking services to street children in Togo with a local charity acting as custodian in order to safeguard their small pockets of savings.
Ecobank Foundation was recently adjudged Africa’s Best Bank for Corporate Responsibility in the Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2020.
IMAGE CREDIT: Ecobank, Ecobank Foundation
