South Africa leads Africa’s banks
The 2013 ranking of the top 400 banks in Africa by TheBanker.com shows that South Africa’s big four banks lead the rest of the African continent, in terms of profits, with Standard Bank topping the list.
According to the site, which tracks over 90% of global banking assets to compile its list, South African banks remain “way out in front” of their African counterparts, but are experiencing much slower growth.
Notably, according to The Banker, Nigerian banks have made a strong recovery since the country’s (and global) economic crisis of 2009, making a combined pre-tax profit of US$3.7 billion – up from US$499 million a year before.
According to The Banker, the growth of Nigeria’s top-performing banks would push the country’s banking sector to become the third largest in Africa, after South Africa and Egypt.
Top 10 banks in Africa by profit growth
| # | Bank | Country | Pre-tax profit (US$m) |
% change |
| 1 | Ghana Commercial Bank | Ghana | 102.6 | 411.8% |
| 2 | Access Bank Ghana | Ghana | 24.8 | 195.6% |
| 3 | Fidelity Bank | Nigeria | 139.3 | 187.4% |
| 4 | Skye Bank | Nigeria | 101.6 | 145.4% |
| 5 | CBAO Groupe Attijariwafa Bank | Senegal | 23.0 | 143.7% |
| 6 | Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt | Egypt | 180.9 | 138.1% |
| 7 | Cal Bank | Ghana | 35.6 | 136.1% |
| 8 | Banco Sol | Angola | 41.7 | 125.6% |
| 9 | Access Bank | Nigeria | 289.0 | 125.3% |
| 10 | Banco Keve | Angola | 20.9 | 119.1% |
South Africa’s banks
South Africa’s four biggest banks by profit – namely Standard Bank, FirstRand, Absa (Barclay’s Africa) and Nedbank – all claimed the top four spots in the rankings for 2013, totaling a combined pre-tax profit of US$8.1 billion, according to The Banker.
Smaller banks in South Africa – African Bank and Capitec – also showed rapid growth, according to the site, with the latter moving up from 31st overall to 23rd, increasing its capital by 44% to US$932 million.
While it’s good news for the SA banks to be leading the way, The Banker noted that pre-tax profit growth from SA banks from last year was relatively flat, while the weakening of the rand versus the dollar reflected in poor asset growth.
However, Standard Bank’s profits of US$3.3 billion were roughly equal to the profits of the 10 largest sub-Saharan lenders outside South Africa, The Banker noted.
Top 10 banks in Africa by pre-tax profit
| # | Bank | Country | Pre-tax Profit (US$m) |
% change |
| 1 | Standard Bank Group | South Africa | 3260.2 | 16.0% |
| 2 | FirstRand | South Africa | 2113.5 | -8.1% |
| 3 | Absa Group | South Africa | 1425.5 | -18.3% |
| 4 | Nedbank Group | South Africa | 1323.0 | 17.3% |
| 5 | National Bank of Egypt | Egypt | 1011.6 | 44.5% |
| 6 | Attijariwafa Bank | Morocco | 969.1 | 4.6% |
| 7 | Guaranty Trust Bank | Nigeria | 663.5 | 69.1% |
| 8 | Zenith Bank | Nigeria | 657.6 | 71.5% |
| 9 | Groupe Banques Populaire | Morocco | 579.1 | 8.0% |
| 10 | First Bank of Nigeria | Nigeria | 536.4 | 69.6% |
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