Arusha –  Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), late on Monday, in Arusha, Tanzania, signed a 250 million dollars agreement with the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) of South Africa.

The agreement was PIC’s investment on behalf of government employment pension fund (GEPF) in ETI’s common equity.

ETI is the parent company of Ecobank Group, a Pan African banking group with presence in 32 countries.

The agreement witnessed by many African investment stakeholders was part of the sideline activities at the ongoing annual general meeting of the African Development Bank (AfDB).

Mr. Arnold Ekpe , Group Chief Executive of ETI, signed for Ecobank while Chairman of PIC and Deputy Finance Minister for South Africa, Mr. Nhlanhla Musa Nene and Chief Executive Officer of PIC,  Mr. Elias Masilela signed for PIC.

NAN gathered that the investment, which is PIC’s  first major direct investment in Africa outside South Africa, was in line with GEPF’s investment strategy of identifying Africa as the next frontier for investment growth.

The deal is expected to strengthen Ecobank’s tier one capital and further enhance its ability to grow its business across the African continent.

Under the terms of the agreement, the 250 million dollars seed fund will amount to 3,125,000 shares in Ecobank or 19.58 per cent of the bank’s total outstanding shares.

The investment will also enable PIC to become a board member of ETI.

Ekpe said that the GEPF transformation as a shareholder of  Ecobank will leverage the bank’s reputable local and international shareholders and gradually bring ETI’s equity capital raising programme to an end.

“Our unparalleled presence across sub-Saharan Africa and our knowledge of local markets will also facilitate the GEPF’s investment plan for Africa,” Ekpe said.

Masilela said the investment meant a lot in the PIC’s growth programme.

“We are excited  about the proposed investment we will make in Ecobank. We strongly believe that this is a significant step that will complement the Africa strategy of our major client, GEPF, which seeks to take advantage of private equity opportunities on the continent.

“With this one investment, we will be immediately optimising our footprint on the rest of the continent, an action that would otherwise require multiple investments and huge effort as well as resource allocation,” he said. (NAN)