Ecobank trains 150 Redcross top officials

Ecobank Group CEO Ade Ayeyemi (holding hands) with Red Cross and Red Crescent societies leaders from 45 African countries in Lome, Togo afte a training forum. [Courtesy]

Ecobank has announced that its academy will train 150 senior leaders of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) from 45 African countries.

The training by the Ecobank Academy is aimed at strengthening their leadership skills with regard to helping the communities they serve. The IFRC is leveraging its partnership with Ecobank to upscale its capabilities through training to enhance its work relations among local communities.

The lender said the three-day ‘IFRC Africa Region Leadership Forum’ training course will see the Academy deliver top management development courses.

It is a pioneer pan-African corporate university and one of the key capability development centres in Africa. The bank said the course themed, ‘Building African National Society Leadership to be Proud of’ will include training on leadership skills, partnership management, governance and responsibility, risk management and controls.

Others are sustainability, integrity and transparency, youth and gender engagement and the opportunities of digitisation.

National leaders

Simon Rey, Group Head, Ecobank Academy, and Ecobank Foundation Chief Operating Officer Carl Manlan said the two entities have worked closely with the IFRC to devise training courses for their national leaders.

The course covers key leadership skills such as governance, accountability, and sustainability. “We have built a strong relationship with the IFRC and it is hugely gratifying that we can play a role in their impactful work supporting suffering communities.”

IFRC’s Regional Director for Africa Dr Fatoumata Nafo-Traoré said the training that African leaders will receive from the academy will position them to devise solutions to the challenges they face.

“Ecobank’s support in this, and in many other ways, is proving to be an invaluable asset in our work to address health, disasters, and crises affecting communities throughout the African continent,” she noted.

Ecobank and the IFRC signed a partnership agreement in November 2018 to work closely together to empower local communities to cope with disasters more efficiently.

In addition to providing training, Ecobank is leveraging its digital banking and QR code capabilities to boost IFRC’s fundraising.

Initiatives on behalf of IFRC National Societies by Ecobank’s affiliate companies have seen the setting up of digital membership records and enrolment processes.