TDB PRESIDENT EMERITUS AND GROUP MD WINS FINANCIAL AFRIK’S DEVELOPMENT BANKER OF THE YEAR
Ebene/ Bujumbura, 17 January 2022 – 2021 came to an end, bringing with it TDB Group’s 10th accolade in 2021, this time for its President Emeritus and Group Managing Director, Admassu Tadesse, who was awarded Financial Afrik’s Development Banker of the Year.
Since he joined TDB in 2012, Tadesse has driven ground-breaking reforms, including in the Bank’s capital structure, and via the establishment of centers of excellence in human resources, risk management, trade and project finance operations and treasury, enabling it to achieve investment-grade ratings for the first time in 2017.
Underpinned by triple bottom-line returns, these reforms have led to a growth in the appetite of funding and equity partners and new investors in TDB, through an innovated capital structure and various capital market securities.
Today, TDB has a unique hybrid public-private ownership structure with both sovereign and institutional investors owning shares, its asset base stands at about USD 8bn, about 8 times as much as when Tadesse joined, and its ESG policies have been modernized so as to align the Bank’s financial flows to SDGs, the Paris Agreement, and Agenda 2063.
Together with the talented TDB management team and Board, Tadesse was instrumental in the formation and launch of new institutional ventures and initiatives, notably the Trade and Development Fund (TDF), the trade finance fund ESATF, TDB Captive Insurance (TCI) and the TDB Academy.
Previously, Tadesse served as Executive Vice President at the Development Bank of Southern Africa in South Africa, and earlier, senior advisor and specialist with various funds and international organizations globally. Tadesse had also been recognized as ‘African Banker of the Year’ in 2019 at the African Bankers Awards.
