Five Nigerian Banks have emerged in the top 25 leading Africa banks in the 2019 Top 1000 World Bank ranking by the Banker Magazine. They are Zenith which ranked no 1 in Nigeria, 9th in Africa and 424 position in the World going by tier 1 capital ranking of $2.672 billion. It was followed by Access Bank as second position in Nigeria, 14th in Africa and 581in the world having a tier one capital of $1.620 billion. The third Nigerian Bank in the ranking is GTbank with a tier 1 capital of $1.531billion, 17th in Africa and 582 global. It is closely followed by UBA as the fourth largest bank in Nigeria, 20th in Africa and 704 in the world with a tier1 capital of $1.126 billion. The fifth Nigerian bank in the top 25 banks in Africa to feature in the top 1000 World Bank is First Bank of Nigeria which has a tier 1 capital of $745 million, occupies 24th position in Africa and 852 position in the world.
According to the Banker Standard Bank remains the largest bank in Africa by Tier 1 capital and its South African peers round out the top four, but the country’s travails have caused their global positions to drop. While Africa’s economic performance continued to improve during the 2018 review period, an overall picture of steady growth masked mixed fortunes in its largest economies, not least the banking powerhouse of South Africa. A technical recession in the second half of 2018 and the weakening value of the rand saw South African banks lose ground in the overall Top 1000 World Banks ranking, despite retaining their top positions for the continent.
Of the top 10 African banks by Tier 1 capital, South Africa’s Standard Bank retains the top spot in the 2019 rankings with $9.8 billion. This represented a 3.7 per cent fall on the bank’s Tier 1 capital in the 2018 rankings, however, with its position in the global table falling from 145th to 149th.
The picture was broadly the same for South Africa’s other major lenders. FirstRand retains its second position in the Africa and its 173rd position in the global rankings despite a 2.3 per cent drop in Tier 1 capital during the review period. ABSA Group and Nedbank retain their respective third and fourth positions in the Africa rankings, despite both experiencing double-digit falls in their Tier 1 capital positions over the period. ABSA Group falls 14 positions to 184th in 2019’s global ranking, with Nedbank falling 23 positions to 240th.
Egypt’s lenders, by contrast, have built on the gains of previous years, once again posting impressive growth in Tier 1 capital during the 2019 review period. National Bank of Egypt rounds off the African top five with Tier 1 capital of $4.6 billion, an 18.1 per cent increase on the 2018 period, lifting its global ranking for 2019 to 266th, from 288th in 2018. National Bank of Egypt is one of three Egyptian lenders in the highest movers rankings for Africa for 2019; Banque du Caire has seen its Tier 1 capital rise 23.9 per cent, with Commercial International Bank (CIB) posting a 9 per cent rise during the period. CIB ranks in third position in Africa’s top five regional lenders based on their return on capital (ROC). Banco de Fomento Angola tops the table for the second consecutive year, with an ROC of 93.5 per cent, up from 51.6 per cent in the 2018 ranking. Guaranty Trust Bank of Nigeria occupies second position, while Banco Angolano de Investimentos and Banco BIC – both from Angola – hold fourth and fifth spots, respectively. While the global banking system is undoubtedly safer a decade on from the height of the financial crisis, years of a low-volatility bull market along with several sharp shocks rocked many lenders in 2018. Benchmark banks by strength, soundness and performance. The Banker’s Top 1000 World Banks ranking provides in-depth country and global banking data and analysis. Launching Monday 1st July.
Chinese banks hold the top four places in the ranking whereas US banks place fifth to eighth. China’s banks are the world’s largest ranked by Tier 1 capital and make the highest profits, but America’s are 40 per cent more efficient in their use of assets. America’s banks have a higher return on both assets and capital than Chinese banks. Globally, banks had their best year ever despite all the challenges of tighter regulation, higher capital requirements, competition from fintechs and low interest rates in Europe and the US. Total pre-tax profits for the Top 1000 World Banks were $1,135 billion, more than 10 times higher than back in 2009 when the financial crisis hit results. Banks in Europe’s problem countries – Italy, Greece, Portugal and Spain – made some improvements by reducing the number of bad loans, with Greek and Portuguese banks drastically reducing their losses and Spanish banks increasing their profits. British banks defied the Brexit gloom and increased their profits by one third, but they are still chasing French banks which chalked up higher profits and a higher return on capital. The one British bank in the top 10, HSBC, rose one place to ninth despite a slight fall in capital.
In Asia, Vietnamese banks grew their profits by a third but India’s banks saw their profits fall 44% as the restructuring of the banking sector continued. Japanese banks had a poor year with profits down 30 per cent and very low returns on assets and capital. Japan’s largest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ, fell one place to tenth in the ranking. Some countries were hit by economic turmoil and a falling currency, such as Argentina where the banks shrank their balance sheets by one fifth and profits fell 10 per cent, and Turkey where assets fell by 15 per cent and profits by 22 per cent. Mexican banks defied Trump’s sabre rattling about trade and migration by growing their capital by 18 per cent and their profits by 16 per cent. America’s banks may deliver better returns than China’s, but both pale in comparison with banks in central Asia with a return on capital of 23 per cent and African banks with 20 per cent. Low banking levels in emerging markets allow banks to grow their profits much quicker than in more advanced countries.
Top 25: Africa ($M)
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| 1 | 149 | Standard Bank Group | South Africa | 9,752 |
| 2 | 173 | FirstRand | South Africa | 8,231 |
| 3 | 198 | ABSA Group | South Africa | 6,848 |
| 4 | 240 | Nedbank Group | South Africa | 5,109 |
| 5 | 266 | National Bank of Egypt | Egypt | 4,612 |
| 6 | 289 | Groupe Banques Populaire | Morocco | 4,109 |
| 7 | 294 | Attijariwafa Bank | Morocco | 4,031 |
| 8 | 375 | Investec South Africa | South Africa | 2,801 |
| 9 | 415 | Zenith Bank | Nigeria | 2,403 |
| 10 | 424 | Banque Misr | Egypt | 2,372 |
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Showing 1 to 10 of 25 entries
| 11 | 430 | BMCE Bank Group | Morocco | 2,322 |
| 12 | 442 | Afreximbank | Egypt | 2,241 |
| 13 | 548 | CIB Egypt | Egypt | 1,684 |
| 14 | 563 | Ecobank Transnational | Togo | 1,620 |
| 15 | 579 | Arab African International Bank | Egypt | 1,542 |
| 16 | 581 | Access Bank | Nigeria | 1,535 |
| 17 | 582 | Guaranty Trust Bank | Nigeria | 1,531 |
| 18 | 588 | Capitec Bank Holdings | South Africa | 1,513 |
| 19 | 613 | MCB Group | Mauritius | 1,421 |
| 20 | 704 | United Bank for Africa | Nigeria | 1,126 |
Top 25: Africa ($M)
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| 21 | 717 | KCB Group | Kenya | 1,079 |
| 22 | 827 | Credit Agricole du Maroc | Morocco | 804 |
| 23 | 844 | Equity Bank | Kenya | 772 |
| 24 | 852 | First Bank of Nigeria | Nigeria | 745 |
| 25 | 885 | African Bank | South Africa | 682 |
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