Bharti Airtel Limited (Airtel), a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa including Ghana, has won the ‘Highly Commended Award’ at this year’s ‘EuroFinance Treasury Awards for Excellence’. The EuroFinance Treasury Awards are widely regarded as the most prestigious in the field of treasury excellence and winners needed to demonstrate treasury operations that reflect “Survival of the fittest or adaptation of the most agile”. A statement from Airtel Ghana said Bharti Airtel won for its implementation of centralized treasury architecture, integrating operations across 20 countries at speed and its swift work on managing substantial (US$13billion) and complex funding needs, very flexibly, across over 100 facilities from over 50 lenders. It noted that the company faced integration challenge after the acquisition of 15 country operations from Zain in Africa in 2010, but the Airtel treasury handled it comprehensively through a well planned set of initiatives. “The Company’s innovative and extensive risk management framework for managing the new currency pairs, and smart liquidity solutions to utilize the excess cash also came in for praise,” the statement said. It noted that the agility of treasury in the face of volatility due to the multi-country acquisition and conditions in the individual countries themselves, pushed Airtel Treasury to become a strategic decision maker for the business. In Ghana, Airtel has won several awards including the Best Mobile Money Service at the recent MobileWorld Telcoms Awards 2012. It also won Best Marketing Campaign (for rebranding Zain to Airtel), Telecom CEO of the Year, and Best Customer Care at the 1st Mobile World Ghana Telcoms Awards in 2011. Airtel Ghana also won the Telcoms Company of the Year, 2010 at the Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana Awards. “This is indeed another manifestation of the confidence the public has in the company,” it said. EuroFinance is a leading global provider of conferences, training and research on cash management, treasury and risk. Running more than 50 events worldwide, EuroFinance enables treasurers and CFOs to exchange innovative strategies, best practice and expert opinion. Through its in-depth research with over 2,000 corporate treasurers every year, EuroFinance has a unique insight into the trends and developments in cash management and treasury, and an unrivalled global viewpoint. EuroFinance is an Economist Group business.