Modupe Gbadeyanka
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
One of the main shareholders in Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), Nedbank, has refuted reports that the former was undergoing a probe in Nigeria.
Nedbank, a lender based in South Africa, controls about 21 percent in the Togo-based financial institution, which has operations in 36 African countries.
In December 2018, a newspaper in South Africa claimed Ecobank was being investigated by Nigerian authorities for allegedly tampering with figures in the financial results, especially exchange rate, to deceive shareholders.
Ecobank quickly released a statement to deny it READ IT HERE : Ecobank Denies Manipulating Figures to Boost Financial Results and speaking on the matter on Friday, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Nedbank, Mr Mfundo Nkuhlu, told Reuters that nothing of such was happening.
“[Ecobank Transnational Incorporated] management has advised, based on their interaction with the Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria (FRCN), there is no investigation under way into the previous reporting of ETI’s annual financial statements,” the COO said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
Nedbank’s relationship with Ecobank is only now starting to pay off after a slide in commodity prices and unfavourable currency swings in Nigeria drove Ecobank to a $131.3 million pre-tax loss in 2016.
