As big Nigerian banks look covetously to other parts of Africa to invest their ballooning profits, Ecobank is one institution that offers both an expansion model and a lesson in level-headed management.

The group operates in 23 countries, giving it the broadest presence of any bank on the continent, and it is still on the acquisition trail. It is valued at about $3.5bn and while just over 40 per cent of its pre-tax profit and assets are Nigerian, it aspires to an African identity rather than a national one.