By ITOHAN ABARA-LASERIAN

The First Bank of Nigeria Ltd., has been ranked the second ‘Most Admired Financial Services Brand’ in Africa, for the second consecutive year.

The Chief Executive Officer of the bank, Dr Adesola Adeduntan, disclosed in a statement made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Lagos.

Adeduntan said the bank clinched the award at the 2021 Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands Event, held on Africa Day 2021 on May 25.

Brand Africa is an intergenerational movement to inspire a great Africa through promoting a positive image of Africa, celebrating its diversity and driving its competitiveness.

It is a brand-led movement which recognises that in the 21st century, brands are an asset and a vector of image, reputation and competitiveness of nations.

Speaking on the award, Adeduntan said: “We are grateful to Brand Africa for the back-to-back recognition as the ‘Second Most Admired Financial Services Brand in Africa.’

“This is a testament to the impactful role we are playing in promoting socio-economic development in Africa, which includes being at the forefront of bridging the financial inclusion gap.

“As well as our commitment to supporting Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) because of the critical role they play in economic growth and development,” he said.

Adeduntan noted that FirstBank had created a functional ecosystem for SMEs to thrive through various value adding solutions and value propositions.

NAN reports that FirstBank was recently awarded the 2021 ‘’Retail Banking CEO of the Year Nigeria”, “Most innovative Retail Banking App Nigeria” and “Best CSR Bank Nigeria” awards by the Global Banking and Finance magazine. (NAN)