By Modupe Gbadeyanka
One of the leading lenders in Africa, Ecobank, is planning to raise fresh funds from the bond market to refinance some of its debts.
The financial institution is also planning to use some of the proceeds from the exercise to strengthen its position in the financial market.
Ecobank is a company that carries out banking and other financial services across the African continent.
It has operations in some countries in Africa, including Nigeria. Its corporate headquarters is located in Togo.
According to Reuters, Ecobank has mandated international lenders to arrange investor meetings in Britain and the United States.
After the meetings, the lender will issue the five-year dollar-denominated bond.
The report said Ecobank has already hired Deutsche Bank, Standard Bank and Standard Chartered to arrange investor meetings.
Last year, Ecobank generated $111 million in pre-tax profits, the largest quarterly profits since the third quarter of 2015, which was an increase of 48 percent, and 81 percent, from the first quarter and fourth quarter of 2017, respectively.
The firm also grew deposits by 14 percent year-on-year to $15.5 billion through deeper client engagements and digital financial offerings.
Dipo Olowookere 
Aduragbemi Omiyale