Strongest banks in Africa in 2023

The TAB Global 1000 World’s Strongest Banks ranking evaluates the 1000 largest banks in the world based on their strength. In this year's ranking, the performance of 29 banks from Africa for the fiscal year 2022 is assessed, with data collected up to the March 2023 cutoff date. This ranking employs a detailed and transparent scorecard to assess banks using six criteria related to balance sheet performance: scale, balance sheet growth, risk profile, profitability, asset quality, and liquidity, encompassing 14 specific factors. 

African banks displayed strong balance sheet growth, with South African banks leading the way. South African banks attained higher scores in scale and risk profile compared to banks in other countries. Nigeria’s Zenith Bank emerged as the strongest bank in Africa, showcasing robust asset quality and liquidity. 

Strongest banks in Africa in 2022

The Asian Banker has been publishing the world’s first authoritative annual ranking of the Strongest Banks in Asia Pacific since 2007 based on balance sheet strength. It uses a detailed and transparent scorecard to evaluate the ranking which entails six areas of balance sheet financial performance: the ability to scale, balance sheet growth, risk profile, profitability, asset quality and liquidity. The ranking has since been expanded to include banks in the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia as well as Islamic banks globally.

In this year’s The Asian Banker Strongest Banks By Balance Sheet evaluation, National Bank of Egypt remained the strongest bank in Africa, as the bank demonstrated strong asset quality, capitalisation and liquidity. The ranking is based on a detailed and transparent scorecard that ranks banks on six areas of balance sheet financial performance; namely the ability to scale, balance sheet growth, risk profile, profitability, asset quality and liquidity. Egyptian banks achieved the highest average strength score, followed by banks in South Africa and Nigeria.

African banks showed improvement in profitability, asset quality and capitalisation, while remaining highly liquid. On average, the return on assets (ROA) of African banks on the list went up from 1.1% in the financial year (FY) 2020 to 1.3% in FY2021, which remained below pre-pandemic level of 1.7% recorded in FY2019. Meanwhile, their average cost to income ratio went down from 52.4% to 49.4%. African banks on the list also reported asset quality improvement, with the average gross non-performing loan (NPL) ratio down to 5.9% from 6.3% in the previous year. In addition, African banks maintained strong liquidity positions, as their average liquid assets to total deposits and borrowings ratio stood at 43%. The overall capitalisation of African banks also strengthened further.

Strongest banks in Africa in 2021

The Asian Banker has been publishing the world’s first authoritative annual ranking of the Strongest Banks in Asia Pacific since 2007 based on balance sheet strength. It uses a detailed and transparent scorecard to evaluate the ranking which entails six areas of balance sheet financial performance: the ability to scale, balance sheet growth, risk profile, profitability, asset quality and liquidity. The ranking has since been expanded to include banks in the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia as well as Islamic banks globally.

In this year’s The Asian Banker Strongest Banks By Balance Sheet evaluation, National Bank of Egypt has emerged as the strongest bank in Africa. This is based on a detailed and transparent scorecard that evaluates commercial banks and financial holding companies (banks) on six areas of balance sheet financial performance, namely the ability to scale, balance sheet growth, risk profile, profitability, asset quality and liquidity. National Bank of Egypt registered strong balance sheet growth and demonstrated good asset quality and a strong liquidity position.

African banks maintained sufficient capital buffers as most banking sectors experienced an improvement in the level of capitalization. Meanwhile, they performed strongly in terms of liquidity, with average liquid assets to total deposits and borrowings ratio up from 41.7% in the financial year (FY) 2019 to 46.2% in FY2020. However, the profitability of African banks on the list weakened, with average return on assets (ROA) down from 1.74% in FY2019 to 1.07% and average cost to income ratio up to 51.7% from 50%. Egyptian and South African banks continued to outperform. Egyptian banks demonstrated the strongest asset quality with a 3.5% average gross non-performing loan (NPL) ratio in 2020, lower than the average for all African banks on the list at 5.9%.

Strongest banks in Africa in 2020

The Asian Banker has been publishing the world’s first authoritative annual ranking of the Strongest Banks in Asia Pacific since 2007 based on balance sheet strength. It uses a detailed and transparent scorecard to evaluate the ranking which entails six areas of balance sheet financial performance: the ability to scale, balance sheet growth, risk profile, profitability, asset quality and liquidity. The ranking has since been expanded to include banks in the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia as well as Islamic banks globally.

In this year’s The Asian Banker Strongest Banks By Balance Sheet evaluation, Banque Misr, Egypt's second-largest bank, emerged as the strongest bank in Africa. This is based on a detailed and transparent scorecard that evaluates commercial banks and financial holding companies (banks) on six areas of balance sheet financial performance, namely the ability to scale, balance sheet growth, risk profile, profitability, asset quality and liquidity. This year, financial information in the first half of the financial year 2020 (1H FY2020) was collated and incorporated into the assessment of how banks performed during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Overall profitability of banks in Africa weakened, with the average return on assets (ROA) fall from 1.7% in 1H FY2019 to 1.15% in 1F FY2020. The banking sectors in the region continued to deliver mixed financial performances. Egyptian banks maintained the strongest asset quality and their average cost to income ratio remained the lowest. Ghanaian banks enjoyed the highest average ROA at 3.2% and also maintained robust capital levels, but the high level of non-performing loans is the main challenge they face. South African banks recorded the largest drop in average ROA from 1.75% to 0.7%. Kenyan banks achieved lower strength score than their regional peers. In addition to weak asset quality, they are also among the smallest banks in the region.

Strongest banks in Africa in 2019

The Asian Banker has been publishing the world’s first authoritative annual ranking of the Strongest Banks in Asia Pacific since 2007 based on balance sheet strength. It uses a detailed and transparent scorecard to evaluate the ranking which entails six areas of balance sheet financial performance: the ability to scale, balance sheet growth, risk profile, profitability, asset quality and liquidity. The ranking has since been expanded to include banks in the Middle East, Africa, and Central Asia as well as Islamic banks globally.

In this year’s The Asian Banker Strongest Banks By Balance Sheet evaluation, FirstRand emerged as the strongest bank in Africa. This is based on a detailed and transparent scorecard that evaluates commercial banks and financial holding companies (banks) on six areas of balance sheet financial performance, namely the ability to scale, balance sheet growth, risk profile, profitability, asset quality and liquidity. In Africa, some weaker banks have been acquired following the consolidations, which has contributed to more resilient banking systems.

Banks in South Africa and Egypt achieved higher average strength scores than banks in other countries. The balance sheet growth of South African banks accelerated in 2018. In addition, they maintained adequate capitalisation and liquidity, and their asset quality remained sound. However, their average cost to income ratio stood at a high level of 58.1%, only lower than that of Nigeria. Egyptian banks maintained solid liquidity buffers. Their balance sheet growth decelerated in 2018, while overall capital levels increased slightly. The average cost to income ratio of Egyptian banks on the list increased from 27.5% in the prior year to 34.3%, but still the lowest in the region.