Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), the parent company of the Ecobank Group, has announced the adoption of the Equator Principles - the industry standard for financial institutions active in project finance. A statement issued by the pan African bank said Ecobank would apply the principles to project finance activities in all relevant sectors and across all of the countries in Middle Africa in which it operates. The Equator Principles are a credit risk management framework for determining, assessing and managing environ-mental and social risk in project finance. The principles are adopted voluntarily by financial institutions and are applied where total project capital costs exceed US$10 million. "By adopting the Equator Principles, Ecobank commits not to provide loans to projects where the borrower cannot or will not comply with the environmental and social standards set out in the Equator Principles' policies and procedures," the statement said. Arnold Ekpe, Group CEO of Ecobank, in his comments said, “This initiative reaffirms our commitment to sustainable financial and economic development of Africa and demonstrates how Ecobank is taking bold action to protect the environment and set socially responsible standards. "Our aim is to go beyond these principles in addressing the most critical challenges of our time - the environment, poverty and social cohesion. At Ecobank, we believe we can make a difference across the African continent by championing sustainable banking." The Ecobank Group is a full-service Pan-African banking institution providing wholesale, retail, investment and transactional banking services to governments, financial institutions, multinationals, SMEs and individuals.