Mr Edward Effah, Managing Director of Fidelity Bank, has been crowned the 2013 Marketing Man of the Year, at the Silver Jubilee of the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG) Marketing Performance Awards.

Out of the 28 banks in Ghana, Edward Effah’s Fidelity Bank also ranked first, thus picking the Bank of the Year award.

This is the first time in five years that a company and its head have won simultaneously in the financial industry in the history of the CIMG Awards.

Receiving his award at the Banquet Hall, State House in Accra, Mr Effah expressed his excitement at the milestones the bank has chalked, saying: “The awards are important to me because they tell the story of many successful Ghanaians.”

“Fidelity Bank began with just a business plan,” he recalled. “We have been able to build what was seemingly impossible to what we have become today.”

“The lessons I learnt are that we need to encourage Ghanaian entrepreneurs to believe and have hope in themselves.”

Mr Effah advised the youth not to fear taking initiatives, saying, “New initiatives come with new challenges, which drive you to achieve success.”

The awards come at a time when Fidelity has pioneered Agency Banking in Ghana, lending unique opportunities for the unbanked to have banking services.

Fidelity Bank also recently acquired ProCredit Savings and Loans, a move seen as a boost to the bank’s Small and Medium Enterprise capabilities.

The Bank has also recently signed a Development Credit Authority agreement with USAID aimed at facilitating lending to Ghana’s Health sector.