Shareholders of Ecobank Transnational Incorporated have approved all resolutions tabled at its 2026 Annual General Meeting in Lomé, including a $40m dividend payout for the 2025 financial year following a record fiscal performance.
The dividend distribution, which translates to 0.16 US cents per share, represents the financial institution’s first dividend payout to investors since 2022.
For the year ended 31 December 2025, the pan-African banking group reported a record profit before tax of $801m, representing a 21 per cent growth year-on-year compared to the previous period.
Net revenues for the conglomerate climbed 17 per cent to hit $2.45bn, while its pre-provision, pre-tax operating profit jumped 29 per cent to $1.265bn, underlining significant operational momentum across its geographic footprints.
Addressing investors at the meeting, the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Papa Ndiaye, tied the improved metrics directly to the group’s corporate recovery roadmap.
“Our strong 2025 financial performance has marked the return to dividend payments to our shareholders. This $40m dividend is a direct reflection of the resilience of our unrivalled pan-African model, institutional maturity, and our staff’s skill and discipline.
“This achievement is a good illustration of my absolute confidence in the strength of the group to continue delivering sustainable growth and value across the continent,” Ndiaye said.
He added that the lender’s performance strongly validates the strategic safety net provided by a highly diversified regional structure, which shields the broader balance sheet from localised macroeconomic shocks.
Corroborating the chairman’s position, the Chief Executive Officer of Ecobank Group, Jeremy Awori, explained that the ongoing execution of its Growth, Transformation, and Returns strategy remains central to the expansion.
He said, “Our shareholders once again strongly reaffirmed their confidence in our GTR strategy. Thanks to our deliberate and structured approach to growth, we are bringing value to our shareholders while transforming payments and trade across our 34 markets.
“Steadily, our pan-African model is building the infrastructure that will enable the future of the continent’s financial architecture.”
The financial reports indicate that the tier-1 lender maintained a capital adequacy ratio of 16.7 per cent, placing the group roughly 420 basis points above the regulatory minimum required for seamless cross-border banking operations.
Operational efficiency also reached a historic milestone, with Ecobank’s cost-to-income ratio dropping to an all-time low of 48.3 per cent during the period under review.