The Bank of the Year winners from Africa.

Algeria: Citi Algeria

Citi Algeria recorded extremely strong and healthy growth in 2012, increasing its assets by 16% to $2.15bn and its Tier 1 capital by 18% to $291m. During this time, its return on equity rose from 16% in 2011 to 18% in 2012, while it also reduced its costs, with its cost-to-income ratio falling from 42% to 38%.

In 2012, Citi Algeria launched new cash management services such as ‘Speed Collect’ to improve clients’ efficiency in collecting cash, cheques, bills of exchange and managing their accounts receivable portfolio. This product has already proven to be very successful with several clients, especially airlines and fuel distributors who have large volumes of cash, as it does not involve sending their own staff to the bank on a daily basis.

In early 2013, Citi Algeria launched a new product called ‘Be Mobile’ for its electronic banking platform, CitiDirect, which allows clients to sign on to their payments wherever they are using their mobile phone, instead of logging onto a computer. This is the first such product to be offered in the country, providing the bank with an edge in the electronic space, and helping it to consolidate an already leading position in the market.

Citi Algeria also provided an innovative solution in response to the ban of intercompany financing in situations where the parent company is based outside Algeria, as well as financing through the international market. This meant that several subsidiaries of foreign corporates that did not demonstrate strong financials, or are start-ups, have been confronted with limited access to local financing.

Citi Algeria, in coordination with Citi’s operations in London and Dublin, developed a scheme to quickly arrange a third-party bank standby letter of credit (SBLC) to cover local credit extensions, with SBLCs from other Citi entities being unacceptable from a local regulatory viewpoint. This has proven to be a key financing solution to several foreign companies and has helped Citi Algeria gain considerable market share during 2012.

Angola: Banco Angolano de Investimentos

As was the case for most Angolan banks, 2012 proved a tough year for Banco Angolano de Investimentos (BAI), the oil-rich country’s largest lender by assets. Its net profits fell 15% to Kz17.2bn ($179m), while its return on equity, which had rarely fallen below 20% in the recent past, was 18.4%.

But analysts said this still represented a strong set of results, particularly given the pressures that banks in the country are facing. Interest rates have come down heavily in the past two years, while new taxes have also eaten into profits.

BAI has responded well to the changes in the market. With yields on government bonds falling, it has made plenty of effort to grow its loan book, something that has seen its net interest margin rise steadily since the start of 2013.

It is being careful not to over-extend its balance sheet, however. The bank’s provisions for non-performing loans grew significantly in 2012, partly as a result of some clients being hit by a rise in government arrears. As such, BAI has bolstered its risk management, including the launch of a compliance office and credit recovery department.

BAI has been one of the banks to cope best with a new foreign exchange law in the country, which states that all payments to oil and gas suppliers have to be made through the local banking system, rather than through offshore lenders. BAI established an oil and gas desk in anticipation of this and upgraded its systems to ensure it could provide straight-though processing for its clients.

Mário Alberto Barber, BAI’s chief executive, believes that despite the headwinds banks face, they will continue to find plenty of opportunities in what is one of Africa’s fastest growing countries. “Opportunities are expected to come our way as a result of the strong economic growth, driven by the expansion in the oil and gas sectors and the public expenditure programme,” he says.

Benin: Bank of Africa Benin

Many businesses in Benin, a French-speaking west African country with an $8bn economy, have comes under pressure in the past two years due to government reforms of customs control and changes in its policies towards the cotton sector, the main source of Benin’s foreign exchange.

But Bank of Africa Benin (BoA Benin) has continued to do well despite this tough environment. It managed to make a pre-tax profit of almost $17m in 2012, more than any of its local rivals and which amounted to a fairly high return on equity of 15%. Just as impressively, the lender’s cost-to-income ratio was below 50%.

BoA-Benin has achieved this in large part by continuing to grow its asset base quickly. Its balance sheet rose a hefty 14% in 2012 to $1.2bn, making it one of the largest banks in the west African CFA franc zone, which is no mean feat given that economies such of those of Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, two other members of the currency zone, are far bigger than Benin.

Faustin Amoussou, who took over as managing director of BoA-Benin in April this year, says that some of the bank’s recent highlights include launching a 20-year home loan product and a loan allowing customers to buy household goods such as refrigerators and televisions. It also partnered with an auto dealer to offer car loans in December 2012.

The lender – the only entity from the country listed on the regional stock exchange BRVM – has no intentions of seeing its market share in Benin drop. It plans to ensure it remains the country’s biggest bank by, among other things, boosting its presence in the agricultural sector and developing more products for small and medium-sized enterprises. It will look at expanding its network of 43 branches, too.

Botswana: Standard Chartered Bank Botswana

Botswana’s economy has recovered since it experienced a fall of more than 5% in 2009. But growth in the diamond-rich southern African state was still below expectations early this year, coming in at less than 4% in the first two quarters.

Banks have not been immune. “Although the bank remains well capitalised and liquid, the economic environment has been challenging,” says Moatlhodi Lekaukau, chief executive of Standard Chartered Bank Botswana. “Increased competition, from both new entrants and existing players, particularly as interest rates have come down, has resulted in compressed margins, especially on liabilities.”

But despite the tricky conditions, Standard Chartered Bank Botswana has managed to perform strongly. In 2012, its net profit stood at P279m ($36m), down only slightly year on year. Its return on equity, while below that of 48% in 2011, was a high 34%. Moreover, while asset growth was subdued, the bank bolstered its capital strength by increasing its Tier 1 capital 58% to P812m.

Standard Chartered Bank Botswana’s recent success has resulted from it ability to keep expanding its loan book and win lucrative mandates, including those that will boost its non-interest revenues. “We have managed to grow loans and advances by 26%, coupled with a double-digit income growth of 11%,” says Mr Lekaukau. “Confirming the bank’s position as the leading financier to the diamond sector in Botswana, we have been given the sole mandate to provide financing and cash management services to the newly established Okavango Diamond Company.”

The bank has also done much to develop its digital banking services as it attempts to become Botswana’s leader in that field. “We aim to continue diversifying our product suite to the mining industry in response to the sector’s dynamic growth,” says Mr Lekaukau. “Another key ambition is to become the main digital bank to our clients and also to continue to position ourselves as a partner to the government.”

Burkina Faso: Ecobank Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso’s banking industry is nothing if not competitive. The $10bn west African economy has 12 commercial lenders. The resulting competition has led to dynamism – the country’s total banking assets increased by a substantial 19% in 2012. But it has also made life tough for existing banks as margins and lending rates have been squeezed.

Despite this environment, Ecobank Burkina Faso, the biggest bank in the country, has continued to thrive and maintain its leading position. Its assets rose by 8% in 2012 to CFA Fr433bn ($875m), but its net profit increased by a much more significant amount: 41% to CFA Fr9.4bn, representing a return on equity of 34%. Ecobank Burkina Faso progressed in other ways, too, with its non-performing loans ratio falling during the year from 5.8% to 4.6%.

Ecobank has focused heavily on improving its customer service in the past year. As part of this, it embarked on a large-scale renovation of its branches. Among the products it sees as offering a lot of potential are those targeting the Burkinabe diaspora. It has worked closely with nationals from the country living abroad and the resulting products that it has come up with have proved popular.

Another highlight in 2012 was an agreement signed between the bank and mobile phone operator Airtel Burkina to enable Ecobank Burkina Faso to offer mobile banking services.

“We have improved drastically the turnaround time in approving and disbursing credits applications, thus setting a new benchmark for the industry in Burkina Faso,” says Cheick Travaly, the bank’s managing director. “We have given more credit to the economy than any other bank in 2012.We have also brought several branches to world-class standards. We want to continue to improve on customer service through initiatives currently being implemented. Our plans to be the employer of choice in the banking sector are well under way.”

Cameroon: Ecobank Cameroon

In the past year, Cameroon has continued to rebound from the effects of the 2008 and 2009 global financial crisis. Its economy grew at about 5% in real terms in 2012 and is expected to do the same in 2013.

This buoyancy has presented banks with a healthy environment in which to go about their business. But it has not all been easy, owing to the fact that the top tier of the market is intensely competitive. The biggest five banks, of which Ecobank Cameroon is one, account for about 75% of loans and deposits. But they have high funding costs and the competition has seen their interest margins, especially when it comes to corporate lending, shrink.

Still, Ecobank Cameroon has proved that it can make strong returns even in such a market. Its assets stood at CFA Fr304bn ($613m) at the end of 2012, much the same as was the case a year earlier. But its net profit rose sharply, by more than 100% to CFA Fr1.65bn, which was a return on equity of 13%. The bank’s cost-to-income ratio improved from 57% to 53%, showing that its efforts to boost its efficiency had paid off.

Moustapha Fall, Ecobank Cameroon’s managing director, says that its key achievements over the past year included increasing its public sector business revenues and lowering its average cost of funds.

Among the bank’s new products was a prepaid ATM card, which has proved popular with low-income earners and retired civil servants.

Ecobank Cameroon has also made plenty of effort to develop its electronic distribution channels, including updating its internet banking security and its mobile banking services.

Next year, Mr Fall wants to diversify the bank’s revenue mix, particularly by boosting non-interest revenues, and make a push into private banking.

Côte d’Ivoire: Standard Chartered Bank Côte d’Ivoire

Côte d’Ivoire continues to recover quickly from its strife following disputed elections in late 2010, which plunged the country into a state of near civil war and severely damaged its economy. Real gross domestic product growth was almost 10% in 2012 and is forecast to be more than 8% in 2013.

Banks have benefited from this buoyancy. But it does not mean that life is easy for them, given the stiff levels of competition. Standard Chartered Bank Côte d’Ivoire is one lender that has managed to handle the situation particularly strongly. “The recovery and economic growth in Côte d’Ivoire have spurred continued investment by existing banks while attracting new players into the banking market place, which now has 23 banks,” says Serge Philippe Bailly, the bank’s chief executive. “This has led to our wholesale bank team facing two challenges: pricing and network development.

“But, in this competitive environment, our franchise delivered yet another outstanding performance last year, reflecting the resilience of our business model, the continued business activity of our client base, and the responsiveness of our staff.”

Among the bank’s recent highlights and moves that set it apart from its rivals, it launched an online cheque printing service, allowing customers to access corporate cheques at their designated premises. This has proved popular because, while other countries may be moving away from cheques altogether, in Côte d’Ivoire they remain a vital form of payment.

Standard Chartered Côte d’Ivoire also established a client services group, which will service corporate customers and merge its sales and customer service teams. 

There seems little to slow Côte d’Ivoire’s economic revival over the next few years. Investors are increasingly putting money into the country. If such a scenario persists, banks such as Standard Chartered will doubtless reap plenty of benefits.

Democratic Republic of Congo: Trust Merchant Bank

In many ways the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC’s) banking sector reflects the sorry state of the country, which, despite an abundance of natural resources and a population of 75 million, has a tiny gross domestic product of $20bn. The banking industry is hindered by the DRC’s political instability and terrible infrastructure. As a result, it has just $3.5bn of assets in total.

Yet lenders such as Trust Merchant Bank (TMB) are helping to make a difference and are increasingly providing their services beyond the capital Kinshasa and mining hub of Lubumbashi, where a lot of other banks focus their efforts. TMB recently became the first lender in the country to open branches in all the provinces. It has also started to operate temporary bank branches, which involve staff going deep into rural areas with equipment powered by mini-generators. “Our ability to grow is hampered by the significant infrastructural deficits that exist here in the DRC,” says Oliver Meisenberg, the bank’s chief executive. “The key challenge for us continues to be to develop bespoke solutions that help us overcome these deficits in order to broaden and deepen our reach across the country.”

TMB was quicker than most of its rivals to capitalise on a decision last year by the government to transfer the payment of 1 million civil servant salaries to the banking sector. Its efficiency in providing payroll services on a large scale has seen it capture about 30% of this programme. Key to the bank’s approach has been to use the service to secure long-term business, something that has resulted in large numbers of DRC soldiers opening savings accounts with it.

TMB’s heavy investments in 2012, opening 13 branches, meant its net profit was a small $1.2m and its cost-to-income ratio a high 99%. But it is confident these figures will improve, with revenues, based on numbers for the first half of this year, forecast to rise about 40% for the whole of 2013.

Djibouti: CAC International Bank

CAC International Bank is one of the larger financial institutions in the small east African economy of Djibouti, which has a gross domestic product of only about $1.5bn and a population of less than 1 million.

The bank, the winner of this year’s award as Bank of the Year for Djibouti, has managed to grow quickly in recent years. Its assets at the end of 2012 stood at $89m, up from $43m two years earlier. Its net profits increased from $1.5m in 2011 to $7m in 2012.

CAC International has managed to keep its costs in check while its revenues have risen. Testifying to this, its cost-to-income ratio in 2012 was a low 43%. Moreover, this was a fall from 67% in 2011, which demonstrates its improving efficiency as an organisation.

It has focused on differentiating itself from its competitors through its use of technology and digital banking services. Its account holders can now carry out most of their banking needs online, including making international transfers. “We have a dedicated team working on providing our customers with the most pioneering and original products and services,” says Ahmed al Deib, the bank’s chief executive. “Using the latest technology, we always think of new ways to expand and improve our online and mobile banking services.”

Plenty of emphasis is also placed on improving customer service, something that the bank believes is vital in a market where gaining the loyalty of big clients is seen as essential for future success. “Over the past few years, we have been determined to become more customer-focused in an effort to retain current customers and attract new ones,” says Mr al Deib. 

“We never forget to teach our staff that the best way to keep customers and get new ones is to create value. We provide training on a regular basis to all our staff [with this in mind].”

Egypt: Commercial International Bank

Commercial International Bank’s (CIB’s) performance in 2012 is impressive by any standards, but even more so in light of the tumultuous political and economic upheaval in Egypt over the past few years caused by the Arab Spring uprisings.

In spite of this, CIB recorded 26% growth in net profits to E£2.2bn ($319.28m), 10.3% growth in assets to E£94.4bn, and 9.7% growth in Tier 1 capital to EGP8.6bn. This growth has been driven by a range of initiatives that have been implemented across the bank. Last year also saw the launch of CIB Cash Online – a new online banking channel that offers customers a complete online view of all of their banking activities.

CIB also continued to consolidate its leading domestic position in retail banking. It recorded highly impressive growth in the retail banking space – consumer banking net income grew by 31% to reach E£870m in 2012, accounting for 39% of CIB’s total profitability. This growth was largely driven by acquiring local currency deposits of E£10.4bn to serve as a stable funding base.  

CIB’s bancassurance products helped further drive its consumer banking growth in 2012, with revenues of E£38m, an increase of 142% on 2011. Business banking was another strategic focus for the year, adding EGP1.8bn of incremental net sales.       

“Despite the challenges facing equity and debt capital markets and other investment banking activity in Egypt, 2012 has been a transformative year for CI Capital [CIB’s full service investment and merchant banking subsidiary], during which the business underwent a significant restructuring exercise that focused on bolstering the senior leadership team,” says Hisham Ezz Al-Arab, chairman and managing director of CIB.

“Commercial International Investment Banking, the international investment banking arm of CIB, aims to develop its franchise as the market leader in mergers and acquisitions and equity capital markets transactions.”

Ethiopia: Dashen Bank

Prompted by economic pressures in the country and stiff competition for deposits, Ethiopia’s Dashen Bank has built its presence aggressively in the past year. But the lender, the country’s biggest non-state-owned bank and the second largest overall, has been careful to keep costs down while it does so. As such, while it has opened plenty of full-scale branches recently, it has made the expansion of its network of ATMs and electronic channels of banking, such as the internet and mobile phones, a priority. 

“Dashen Bank has been keen to expand its market outreach and resource base through a new branch model,” says Berhanu Woldeselassie, president of the bank. “To this effect, the branch network of the bank saw an unprecedented expansion in the 2012/13 financial year with the opening of a 31 branches.”

During the same period, Dashen introduced six new depository products and established partnerships with two international money transfer companies, allowing its customers to have greater choice for incoming international remittances.

Mr Woldeselassie is confident about the near future. His bank is set to continue focusing on technology, something which has given it a reputation for being one of the most modern operators in what is one of Africa’s least sophisticated banking industries. “The sheer size of the market of under-served people offers a huge window of opportunity for Dashen Bank,” he says. 

“Tapping the potential market requires innovative solutions. In this regard, Dashen Bank is working to launch agent banking services. The bank’s plan is to harness innovative distribution channels by continuing to use a variable cost strategy through partnership – such as with third-party retail agents. This will help it expand its reach far and wide and to serve the under-banked segment of society.”

Gambia: Standard Chartered Bank Gambia

The tiny west African economy of Gambia has been volatile in recent years. Gross domestic product slumped by about 4% in 2011 because of a poor crop harvest. Output rose slightly in 2012 and is expect to expand quickly, at a rate of 4% to 6%, this year.

Despite facing such conditions, Standard Chartered Bank Gambia, the second largest lender in the country by assets, has performed consistently and strongly. Its assets rose 16% to 4.5bn dalasis ($133m) in 2012. Its net profit fell 2% to 89m dalasis, but this was still equivalent to a return on equity of more than 30%. Non-performing loans, meanwhile, were kept low, at less than 2.6% of the bank’s portfolio.

“The bank continued to innovate and provide customers and clients with world-class banking services and solutions in a fairly volatile global economic environment, while generating sustained returns for shareholders,” says chief executive Humphrey Mukwereza. “The bank also carefully selected the investments that would best support the growth of the business in the future.”

Standard Chartered Bank Gambia has managed to increase both its wholesale and consumer banking revenues in the past two years. With the former, operating income rose from 215m dalasis in 2011 to 228m dalasis in 2012. Its wholesale business team used the parent bank’s knowledge of structured products to develop the foreign exchange services it offers to Gambian customers. 

Consumer banking income increased 12% in 2012 to 222m dalasis, helped, among other measures, by the introduction of more ATMs, which attracted more customers to the bank.

Mr Mukwereza is confident about the prospects for the Gambian banking industry, believing that the economy will rise quickly in the near term and throw up plenty of opportunities for lenders. “We see opportunities in both the wholesale and consumer businesses spurred by this growth,” he says.

Ghana: Ghana Commercial Bank

Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) had a strong year in 2012. The country’s second largest lender by assets, it made a pre-tax profit of $103m, more than any other bank in Ghana. Its return on equity amounted to a hefty 48%, while its cost-to-income ratio was a low 53%.

This year its results have continued to be good. Analysts forecast profit after tax to rise to about $120m (which is all the more impressive given the cedi’s 15% depreciation versus the dollar since January). As such, investors have rushed to buy into GCB, its share price having more than doubled so far in 2013.

GCB has been focusing in particular on boosting its position in the consumer banking market. One of its key recent innovations was the introduction of Ghana’s first 24-hour personal loan product, which offers people in formal employment the chance to access credit within that timeframe. Before, the process of appraising a loan application took about a week. The change has seen the monthly uptake of personal loans go from 8m cedis ($3.6m) to more than 25m cedis. “It’s been very successful and well received by customers,” says Simon Dornoo, head of GCB. “It’s helping to diversify our revenue base.”

Such products have helped GCB counter the problem of a high interest rate environment subduing demand for credit among big corporate borrowers. Consumers tend to be less sensitive to high rates than companies, given the fact they usually borrow for shorter periods.

GCB has also made plenty of effort to develop its electronic banking channels, including its mobile and internet banking services. And it was the first lender in the country to deploy point-of-sale terminals that accepted both its own cards and international ones. “We are focusing on the payment systems,” says Mr Dornoo. “We see opportunity there.”

Guinea: International Commercial Bank Guinea

West Africa’s Guinea is about as a volatile a place one could find in which to do business. The French-speaking country has experienced much political instability in the past five years. A military coup took place in 2008 and a transition to civilian rule was only completed in October, when long-delayed elections were held.

Despite operating in such an environment, some banks have found ways to continue growing. International Commercial Bank (ICB) Guinea has been one of those. It had a small asset base of GFr414bn ($59m) at the end of 2012, but this figure represented an increase of 22% from a year earlier. Net profit rose 62% to GFr9bn. This amounted to a return on equity of 12%, up from 3% in 2010 and 9% in 2011. The bank’s non-performing loan ratio has been kept at less than 1%.

The bank’s strategy has been to improve its customer service to maintain the strength of its customer base, buying more treasury bills and increasing its non-interest revenues in areas such as foreign exchange. This has paid off in the past two years, with deposits increasing 24% in 2012.

Banks in the country will have to work hard over the next few years to meet a recent directive from the central bank that they increase their levels of capital from at least GFr50bn to GFr100bn by 2016. They will also often find it difficult to grow their loan books in a country where good assets can be hard to find. ICB, however, is far from gloomy. “We wish to open more branches outside [the capital] Conakry and more cash points within Conakry city,” says Ananta Padmanabhan, the bank’s chief executive. “We also want to introduce mobile and internet banking and more ATMs to have multichannel options open to our customers.

“And we see better opportunities in financing the importation of petrol to Guinea.”

Kenya: Kenya Commercial Bank

Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), the country’s largest lender by assets and Tier 1 capital, has performed strongly in 2013. Its profit before tax in the first nine months rose 17% year on year to KSh15.2bn ($179m). Another highlight was the fact its cost-to-income ratio, which it has long sought to reduce, was 52% for the period, down from almost 70% in 2009.

KCB’s results follow the progress it made last year. In 2012, it managed to generate pre-tax earnings of KSh17bn, a 14% increase from 2011 and a huge leap from KSh6bn as recently as 2008.

Investors have rushed to buy KCB’s stock. By early November its share price on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, on which it is the third largest company, had risen 56% since the beginning of the year, making it the best performing of Kenya’s big banks for that period.

KCB gained new management at the beginning of 2013 when Joshua Oigara, its chief financial officer, took over as chief executive from Martin Oduor-Otieno, who had been at the helm for six years. Mr Oigara has continued with the strategy of his predecessor, which involves expanding the bank’s international business – it has rapidly growing subsidiaries in Burundi, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda – and maintaining its leading market share within Kenya.

Much of KCB’s success is a result of its ability to tap rural and poor Kenyans. Among the products it has developed recently to target this market segment is KCB M-Benki, a mobile banking account that can be activated through M-Pesa, Kenya’s popular mobile money transfer service.

By using mobile banking and agency banking – whereby it sells products through retail outlets such as petrol stations and through street vendors – KCB has found a way to make the banking of Kenya’s mass population profitable, given that it does away with the need to build expensive branches in remote areas.

Liberia: Ecobank Liberia

Liberia’s economy is growing rapidly. In 2011 and 2012, gross domestic product rose by more than 8%. Economic output is forecast to increase at roughly the same level this year.

Yet banking in the country is far from easy. Liberia, having only been at peace for about 10 years, still carries many of the hallmarks of a post-conflict nation. Its infrastructure and its institutions remain weak.

Reflecting this, the overall banking sector lost money in 2012. Ecobank Liberia, the largest local lender, was an exception. It made a net profit of $2.1m, amounting to a return on equity of 7%. This may seem modest, but it marked an improvement from just 0.3% in 2010.

Moreover, Ecobank Liberia has done much to reduce its non-performing loans, which remain a problem for the whole sector. Its non-performing loans (NPL) ratio was as high as 43% in 2010, but fell to 25% two years later. “We now have product programmes for all types of loans and any loan request that does not meet our risk acceptance criteria is rejected,” says Kola Adeleke, the bank’s managing director. “This has resulted in the continuous decline of our NPL ratio.”

Ecobank Liberia’s efforts to increase its customers have reaped dividends recently. In the year to June 2013, its customer base rose from 201,750 to 223,724. Mr Adeleke puts this partly down to Ecobank winning more payroll service business. “Our drive towards customer acquisition resulted in an 11% growth in the number of customers,” he says. “Most of the growth came from our focused attention on the sale of payroll administration services to big corporate clients.”

He thinks Liberia’s need for better infrastructure will provide banks with opportunities in the near future. “Liberia, being a post-conflict nation, is focused on developing its ailing infrastructure,” says Mr Adeleke. “Ecobank plans to play a key role in the construction and power sectors to support the Liberian developmental agenda.”

Mali: Ecobank Mali

Mali has been rocked by instability in the past two years. A military coup in March 2012 was swiftly followed by Islamist extremists taking control of the northern part of the country, effectively splitting it in two until they were beaten back by a French-led intervention early this year. Elections then took place in July and August, giving hope that, while parts of the north are still volatile, the country is on the mend politically.

Mali’s economy suffered from the instability, going into recession in 2012. The banking sector was hardly immune, either. Reflecting this, Ecobank Mali, which experienced double-digit asset growth in 2010 and 2011, saw its balance sheet expand by just 5% in 2012 to $631m. Moreover, its Tier 1 capital dropped 10%.

Yet testifying to its overall strength, the bank still managed to make a profit of $10m in 2012, which amounted to a return on equity of 20%. And its cost-to-income ratio was 60%.

Coumba Touré Sidibé, the bank’s managing director, says that it continued throughout the political crisis to improve its services. “In 2012 we automated our account opening procedures as well as processes to transfer funds,” he says. “This was achieved through the introduction of new software. This technological innovation contributed significantly to the improvement of these services. The back-up office became more proactive and we witnessed a drastic reduction in operational errors.”

Mr Sidibé says that Ecobank will continue to innovate, particularly when it comes to its digital services and products. “The strategy of Ecobank Mali is to be number one in the Malian banking sector through [the provision of] delivery channels, with special attention given to electronic channels,” he says. “The aim is to get 80% of our customers to transact on these electronic banking channels.”

With Mali’s economy expected to expand quickly in the next few years as it recovers from its turmoil, Ecobank is well placed to take advantage of the opportunities that will inevitably follow.

Mauritius: State Bank of Mauritius

Mauritian banks have had to adapt to a weakening economy in the past two years. Real gross domestic product growth on the Indian Ocean island, which is one of Africa’s most open economies and has strong trading ties to struggling Europe, fell from 5.5% in 2008 to 3.3% in 2009 and has since remained at similar levels.

Yet the banking industry has mostly been resilient. State Bank of Mauritius (SBM), the country’s second largest locally owned lender, is no exception. Its pre-tax profit for the 15 months to the end of September 2013 was MRs4.71bn ($160m), up 14% year on year. 

“While most banks slowed down, SBM achieved a robust outturn for the 12 months ending June 2013,” says Jairaj Sonoo, the bank’s chief executive. “Net profits were underpinned by market share gains, active balance sheet management and greater operational efficiency. They were supported, too, by strong risk management, low loan portfolio delinquencies and comfortable liquidity and capital levels.”

SBM has done much to boost its market share. Testifying to its success, its share of domestic business and retail loans rose between June 2012 and June 2013. Its market share for business advances now stands at 22% and at 33% for retail loans.

SBM has carried out this expansion in an efficient manner. Its cost-to-income ratio dropped to a low 32% at the end of March this year, while non-performing loans have been kept down, standing at less than 2% of its portfolio.

The bank has made technological improvements to its services and outlets a priority. It also wants to grow internationally. “SBM is actively exploring opportunities for expansion in high-potential geographies, namely India, east Africa and south-east Asia,” says Mr Sonoo.

Morocco: BMCE

BMCE is the third largest Moroccan bank in terms of size and market share. In 2012, it grew its assets by 11% to Dh230.9bn ($27.8bn), its Tier 1 capital by 13.7% to Dh15.8bn and its net profits by 9% to Dh923m.

One of BMCE’s most important achievements in 2012 was its regionalisation programme, the aim of which was to bring the bank closer to its customers and improve its commercial efficiency.

In response to the significant growth in its branch network – today it operates 600 branches in Morocco – the bank adopted a regionally decentralised operating structure whereby it re-organised its operations into eight territorial divisions covering all the regions in Morocco. This required tremendous effort in terms of IT structures, training and the implementation of various procedures and processes, but these efforts have already paid off, resulting in an enhanced service quality and a reduced processing time for customer applications, which has translated into an enlarged customer base.

While already well established in the retail banking space, BMCE has been working hard to diversify its portfolio by targeting the small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) sector. As with larger corporate customers, the bank services its SME customers through dedicated teams, which operate throughout its 27 business centres across Morocco.

In order to target SMEs effectively, BMCE has developed a simplified range of packaged products and also offers value-added services such as free training, strategic consultation and business advice services. During 2011 and 2012, BMCE gained about 2600 new SME customers, and then 540 more in the first four months of 2013. 

Clearly, its SME strategy has yielded the desired results, with this segment now accounting for 20% of the bank’s domestic revenues. Buoyed by these results, BMCE aims to double the size of its SME customer portfolio in the coming two or three years.

Mozambique: Millennium BIM

Mozambique’s banks have benefited from the south-east African country’s rapid economic growth in recent years. But none has managed to exploit this buoyancy as much as Millennium BIM. Its pre-tax profit for 2012 was $129m, according to The Banker Database, which was more than double that of any of its rivals.

Millennium BIM’s expansion has been swift. Its customer base rose from 864,000 in 2010 to almost 1.2 million last year. Its branch network stood at 151 at the end of 2012, having increased from 138 in 2011. And the number of ATMs and point-of-sale terminals it operates has also gone up.

The bank has worked hard to introduce new products in what is a banking industry starting from a very low base. It recently launched branches targeting its most affluent clients, and is focusing on the mass population, too. 

One of its major breakthroughs was the creation of its Millennium IZI mobile banking service, which allows its customers to carry out most of their banking needs through their phones. Within the first month of IZI’s launch, the bank doubled its monthly transactions to more than 1.2 million. Today, it carries out more than 2 million mobile transactions a month, says Manuel Marecos Duarte, the bank’s chief executive.

The bank has maintained a strong balance sheet as it has grown. Its Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio (CAR) increased to 22% in 2012, way above the central bank’s floor of 8%. It is also operating fairly efficiently, with its cost-to-income ratio for 2012 being less than 40%.

“The bank will keep focusing on growth, preserving market leadership, its CAR, having strong liquidity and having low non-performing loans,” says Mr Duarte. “To further boost financial inclusion among the population, Millennium BIM also plans to continue branch expansion and focusing on mobile banking.”

Namibia: First National Bank of Namibia

Namibia’s four established lenders form what is one of the most sophisticated banking systems in Africa. And they are highly profitable. But even among its peers, First National Bank of Namibia (FNB) stands out. Its profit before tax for the year to the end of June 2013 was N$921m ($93m), more than 40% higher than that of its nearest rival, Bank Windhoek.

FNB’s earnings have risen rapidly in the past five years. Much of this is down to it expanding its loan book, which stood at N$17bn at the end of June. “We grew our advances quite aggressively last year, by 20.5%,” says Ian Leyenaar, the bank’s chief executive. “We are continuing to grow our asset base. We’re at a good starting point, given that we have very low impairments and non-performing loans.”

As well as serving big companies and the middle class, FNB has also been at the forefront of the banking sector’s attempts to provide more services to poor Namibians and those living in rural areas, something that politicians and the central bank are increasingly pushing. FNB launched an e-wallet last year, which allows for small sums of money to be transferred to people without bank accounts. And it has made plenty of effort to make it easier for its customers to carry out transactions electronically, which it feels is crucial if it is going to make its products more accessible. Testifying to its progress, the volume of electronic transactions it handles went up significantly in 2012, especially those done via mobile phones. “Banks are trying to get people to bank through electronic means,” says Mr Leyenaar. “It’s far cheaper and more convenient.”

Namibia’s economy has been hit recently by a fall in commodity prices, which has put pressure on its mining exports. But gross domestic product is still expected to expand at close to 4% this year. Banks, including FNB, will doubtless benefit from this buoyancy. “We’ve got a lot of confidence in the economy,” says Mr Leyenaar.

Niger: Ecobank Niger

Niger’s economy rose rapidly in 2012, at a pace of more than 10% thanks to a good harvest and big investments in mining and oil. Growth is expected to slow this year, but still reach a strong level of 5% to 6%. Nonetheless, banking in what is one of the world’s least developed countries is far from easy.

Ecobank Niger has, however, managed to expand its business over the past few years and do so in a profitable manner. In 2012, its assets increased by 35% to CFA Fr162bn ($333m) and its net profit by 6% to CFA Fr2.7bn. The latter figure represented a return on equity of 29%, the same as in 2011 and up from 23% in 2010.

Bagarama Ibrahim, the bank’s managing director, says his organisation saw its deposits rise by 22% in 2012 and its customer base by 24%. Other highlights he points to include the opening of five new branches and 29 ATMs. “We continued with our organic growth strategy by increasing our network of outlets,” he says.

Ecobank has made a lot of effort to increase its revenues from small and medium-sized enterprises. Mr Ibrahim says its focus has been on banking the supply chain of certain industries, with the distributors, as well as the manufacturers, of goods and services being targeted with the bank’s products.

Over the next few years, Ecobank Niger will look to boost its market share within the mining and oil sectors and win more public sector work. Mr Ibrahim says that technology will be crucial to the bank’s future, with its mobile and internet banking services being developed. He also wants to introduce point-of-sale terminals.

Nigeria: Zenith Bank

Zenith Bank has come a long way since it was founded in 1990. The bank, which had $17bn of assets at the end of 2012, is the largest in Nigeria based on Tier 1 capital, according toThe Banker’s latest Top 1000 rankings. By the same measure, it is the sixth biggest lender in the whole of Africa.

Zenith’s performance in the past two years has been particularly strong. One of the banks to come through Nigeria’s 2009 financial crisis relatively unscathed, it made a record pre-tax profit in 2012 of N102bn ($651m). This year looks even better. It posted profits before tax of N83bn for the first nine months, up 10.4% year on year. Analysts forecast it to earn about N106bn for the full year, which would amount to a return on average equity of close to 20%.

Zenith’s results for 2013 are all the more impressive given the headwinds that Nigerian banks have faced recently. They have had to contend with falling interest rates on government bonds, at least in the first half of the year, and an increase in the levy they pay to Amcon, a bad bank set up by the government amid the financial crisis. Zenith has managed to overcome these by making plenty of effort to expand its loan book. It has also been growing its non-interest revenues. “[This year] will be a little bit difficult for the banks,” says Godwin Emefiele, the bank’s managing director. “But it will still be a good year. Banks have got to diversify their revenue base. That’s what most of them, particularly Zenith, are doing.”

He adds that since the bank was established, it has invested in technology to improve customer service, something that has enabled it to grow its deposit base faster than most rivals. “We’ve always known we need strong technology to back up customer service,” he says. “We will continue to do that.”

Rwanda: I&M Bank Rwanda

The fourth biggest Rwandan lender by assets, I&M Bank has been making plenty of progress recently. Its net profit for 2012 rose a hefty 48% year on year to RwFr4.2bn ($6.8m). That represented a high return on equity of 27% and meant the bank’s cost-to-income ratio was 66%, down from 72% in 2011.

This year has been even better. I&M, which changed its name from Banque Commerciale du Rwanda in August, following its buy-out by a group led by Kenya’s I&M Bank a year earlier, made an operating profit on RwFr5.6bn in the first nine months, which was an increase of 50% from the same period of 2012.

The bank has focused heavily on improving its technology over the past year. This, it says, is particularly important as it wants to avoid the high costs associated with opening new full-scale branches. As such, it has invested in its online, mobile and ATM distribution channels, making its possible to reach new customers without necessarily having to build brick-and-mortar outlets.

Other measures taken by the bank include expanding its mortgage services. Rwanda’s mortgage market remains tiny and most of its population cannot afford to buy houses. But I&M has partnered with an insurer to make its home loans more affordable.

Over the next year, I&M will continue its efforts to establish innovative products, especially those designed for electronic banking channels. “The strategy of the bank is to remain a universal bank and continue leading product development in the market,” says Sanjeev Anand, I&M’s managing director. “It recently launched electronic tax payments and products for the purchase of power and water. The focus is to penetrate the under-banked segment using its electronic reach and its bank-to-mobile and mobile-to-bank capabilities.”

Senegal: UBA Senegal

Since first becoming profitable in 2011, two years after it started operating, UBA Senegal has come a long way. The subsidiary of Nigeria’s United Bank for Africa made net profits of $2.8m in 2011. A year later, these rose to more than $8m, amounting to a hefty return on equity of 50% and making it more profitable than some of its far larger rivals in the west African country.

In 2012, UBA Senegal’s assets increased 20% to $205m, which was a high rate of expansion considering the country’s fairly subdued, at least by African standards, real economic growth of 4% and nominal growth of just over 5%. “UBA Senegal has been one of the fastest growing banks in the Senegalese market over the past three years,” says chief executive Amie Sow. “UBA has been able to achieve this stellar performance by leveraging on the strength of the group to support key sectors of the economy, such as energy, trade and services.

“In addition, the bank used a customer-focused approach to expand the customer base as well as build customer loyalty.”

With regards to structured finance, UBA’s treasury team has been innovative in its development of products, including asset-backed securities, which are a rarity in the CFA franc zone’s banking industry. It has also started offering customers the ability to buy forwards and options for foreign exchange transfers.

UBA is focusing on the consumer market, too. Plenty of effort has been made to develop its electronic banking channels, including its mobile and online services. “UBA Senegal intends to continue to finance targeted sectors, and to develop retail banking products for schools, hospitals, small and medium-sized enterprises and individuals,” says Ms Sow. “This will be backed by a geographic expansion within the country to better connect with customers and develop innovative e-banking and cash management products.”

Sierra Leone: International Commercial Bank Sierra Leone

The west African state of Sierra Leone is experiencing rapid economic growth, largely because of big investments in its iron ore deposits. But the small economy – its gross domestic product is less than $5bn – suffers from severe infrastructural constraints and a lack of electricity. As such, the banking environment is tough. Moreover, it is a highly competitive market, with 13 commercial banks in operation.

International Commercial Bank (ICB) Sierra Leone is one of the smaller lenders in the country, but it is growing quickly, with its assets increasing 28% in 2012 to 91bn leone ($21m). Its net profit for the year was 4.35bn leone, 89% higher than in 2011 and amounting to a return on equity of 14%. “We recorded one of the highest rates of growth in profit after tax [in the country],” says Viswanathan Sundaram, the bank’s chief executive.

ICB has worked hard to keep costs down. Testifying to its success, its cost-to-income ratio fell from 47% in 2011 to 41% in 2012.

“The key strategy adopted by ICB has been to continue to stick to the basics of banking, [which are] garnering deposits at an overall low cost and lending at competitive rates to sound projects in a safe manner,” says Mr Sundaram.

This focus has paid off. Despite the competition in the market, its deposits rose by 73% during 2012, reflecting the increasing strength of its brand.

This year looks good for ICB. In the first six months, its net profit was up 15% year on year. Mr Sundaram says ICB is confident it will keep finding opportunities to lend. “Improving the size of our loan book, by booking quality assets, would be our priority for the immediate future,” he says.

South Africa: Nedbank

Nedbank, one a South Africa’s big four lenders, has spent much of the past five years or so focusing heavily on generating non-interest revenues. It felt that while it had a strong loans and deposits franchise, it needed to boost other forms of income.

This strategy has paid off handsomely in the period since and continues to do so. The bank’s non-interest revenues in the first nine months of 2013 were up 14% year on year. The change has done much to boost Nedbank’s valuation relative to its rivals. 

“Four years ago, our valuation in terms of our price-to-book ratio was the lowest of the big four banks in South Africa,” says Mike Brown, Nedbank’s chief executive.

“We felt the underlying cause was our lack of non-interest revenues. As we’ve grown those – we have had four or five years of double-digit non-interest revenue growth – not only have we have seen a significant improvement in our brand valuation, but our price to book ratio is now the second best among our big rivals.”

As well as growing its revenues within South Africa, Nedbank is also pushing more into the rest of Africa. In the southern part of the continent, it continues to build its subsidiaries in Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Malawi, while earlier this year it bought 36% of Mozambique’s Banco Único.

Elsewhere, it is benefiting from its partnership with Ecobank, which has a wide presence in west and central Africa. Nedbank has the right to acquire up to 20% of the Togolese-based lender between now and November 2014, which Mr Brown says it will think seriously about doing. 

“We have internal processes to go through before making a final decision,” he says. “But the alliance is working well. It would be our current intention to exercise those rights, although we haven’t made the decision yet.”

Swaziland: Standard Bank Swaziland

The small, landlocked southern African state of Swaziland continues to suffer from severe fiscal and economic challenges. The country, an absolute monarchy, went into recession in 2012 and its economy is expected to grow by only about 1% this year.

Local banks have seen their expansion stifled as a result. But Standard Bank Swaziland, winner of this year’s award for the country, has maintained high levels of profitability. Its assets increased by just 3% to 4.17bn emalangeni ($411m) in 2012, but its net profit climbed to 90.5m emalangeni, up 40% from 2011 and amounting to a return on equity of more than 30%.

The bank has also managed, in spite of Swaziland’s economic situation, to keep its balance sheet healthy. Its non-performing loans ratio stood at a low 2.3% at the end of 2012, down from 6.1% in 2010.

Already the largest lender in Swaziland by assets, Standard Bank has focused most of its recent efforts on deriving more revenues from existing customers. It has tried to achieve this through an aggressive sales approach that uses marketing campaigns and through so-called workplace banking, whereby the bank meets clients at a place of their choosing.

Among its highlights in the past year, it has introduced the SME Quick Loans (SQL) product, which is targeted at small and medium-sized enterprises. SQL allows financing applications to be assessed electronically. The advantage to customers is that they are provided with unsecured loans – the inability of SMEs in Swaziland to provide collateral has traditionally being one of the biggest barriers to them accessing credit.

Standard Bank also entered into a partnership with John Deere Africa, a leading manufacturer of agricultural machinery. Through this, John Deeere’s local unit will discount any assets that are purchased through Standard Bank, which, for its part, will offer buyers preferential interest rates on their loans. Standard Bank is the only lender in the country to have such an agreement in place with John Deere.

Tanzania: National Microfinance Bank

National Microfinance Bank (NMB), the second largest Tanzania lender by assets and the biggest by market capitalisation, has come a long way since it was partially privatised in 2005 (the state still controls 32% of its shares, while Dutch bank Rabobank owns 35%). It has grown rapidly since then and at the end of 2012 had $1.8bn of assets, up 29% from the previous year. Its net profit for 2012 was $61m, which was a high return on equity of 27%.

Despite the intense competition in Tanzania – which, despite having a gross domestic product of $35bn, has more than 30 commercial banks – NMB has managed to keep on increasing its market share. Its market share for deposits climbed from 12% to 13% in 2012, while its share of loans rose from 16% to 18% and operating income from 21% to 24%.

The bank’s performance in 2013 has been strong, too. Its profit in the first half was TSh62bn ($39m), up 21% from a year earlier and representing an impressive 34% of total market profitability.

Investment in technology has been vital to the bank’s recent success. “It has allowed us to significantly expand our product mix and distribution channels,” says chief executive Mark Wiessing.

NMB has also been at the forefront of the banking industry’s efforts to tap more of the country’s large unbanked population. In 2012 it launched its Chap Chap account. “This is a no-frills account, with no minimum balance and no monthly fees,” says Mr Wiessing. “The account is sold outside the branch, including in remote locations, through direct sales agents, equipped with smartphones and [point-of-sale] devices with biometric features. It allows our customers to open an account in real time. In five minutes, the customer has moved from being unbanked and into the modern economy, with immediate access to 150 branches, 500 ATMs and 30,000 cash-in and cash-out points nationwide.”

Tunisia: Banque de Tunisie

After posting a contraction of 1.8% in 2011 due to the Arab Spring uprising, Tunisia’s economy rebounded in 2012, posting growth of 3.3%. This recovery was reflected in the healthy growth recorded across all of Banque de Tunisie’s key financial indicators in 2012. It grew its assets by 10.55% to TD3.7bn ($2.22bn), its net profits by 9.91% to TD63.4m and its Tier 1 capital by 7.24% to TD505m. It is the fourth largest commercial lender in Tunisia by Tier 1 capital and has an 8% share of the market.

During 2012, Banque de Tunisie attracted a significant number of customers through its online platform. Average monthly access from businesses to its BTNet company website recorded a 22.5% increase between 2011 and 2012. Meanwhile, membership on its BTNet individual website grew by 33.8% from 11,883 customers in 2011 to 15,900 in 2012.

Banque de Tunisie was a pioneer in the development of internet banking in Tunisia and believes this is a key channel through which it can attract new customers. It is also in the process of launching a mobile banking app for the smartphone to provide customers with better access to its services.

Despite the problems caused by the ongoing political turmoil, the bank is also in extremely good health. Its solvency ratio stands at 19%, considerably higher than the 9% mandated by the Central Bank of Tunisia.

“Looking ahead, the bank intends to continue its programme of implementing the cornerstones of an adequate and effective internal control system,” says Zouheir Hassen, chief financial officer of Banque de Tunisie. “Also, and in conjunction with the progress of implementing Basel II in Tunisia, the bank will continue with its efforts to strengthen systems of evaluation and risk monitoring.”

Established in 1884, Banque de Tunisie is the country’s oldest bank and today operates a network of 105 branches. In line with boosting its retail activity, the bank is planning to open five new branches in 2014.  

Uganda: Crane Bank

Crane Bank, the third largest lender in Uganda and the biggest locally owned one, enjoyed a strong 2012. Its assets increased 21% to USh1168bn ($442m), and its net profit rose 20% to USh80bn, a record for the bank. “Crane Bank not only delivered its highest profits since its inception but also continued to expand its geographical footprint, increasing its network to 36 branches and 100 ATMs across Uganda,” says A R Kalan, the bank’s managing director.

He adds that much of Crane Bank’s strategy involves trying to tap into the significant amount of capital that exists in rural areas, but which is kept outside the formal financial system. “One of the most important problems in the country is capital formation,” he says. “There is a good deal of difference between hoarding and saving and the people in the countryside have to be made to realise the difference,” he says. “This can easily be done by banks. If banks can offer handsome interest on savings, people can be induced to direct their savings to banks.

“We have initiated a savings culture among Ugandans by offering attractive interest rates, especially on fixed deposits and other savings products, all of which have proved extremely popular.”

As part of its push to tap more of Uganda’s unbanked population, Crane Bank plans to expand its branch network to 50 by 2014. It will also focus heavily on agriculture, which makes up a large chunk of the east African country’s economy. “The agriculture sector being key to Uganda’s development, Crane Bank is focusing on providing tailored banking products and services such as agriculture credit loans,” says Mr Kalan.

In the near term, Crane Bank wants to move abroad for the first time. Mr Kalan says it will start operating in neighbouring Rwanda in the first quarter of 2014.

Zambia: Standard Chartered Zambia

Zambia’s banking industry has been challenging in the past two years, with lenders having to contend with economic volatility, a high-interest environment and new minimum capital requirements from the central bank.

Standard Chartered Zambia has, however, continued to do well throughout this period. Its asset base rose 13% during 2012 to $996m. Its net profit climbed even more, by 67%, to $43m, the highest number among all its rivals. This amounted to a hefty return on equity of 37%. 

“Our performance in 2012 and the first half of 2013 once again demonstrated our ability to deliver substantial, sustained value for our shareholders,” says Andrew Okai, chief executive of the bank, the biggest listed company on the Lusaka Stock Exchange. “Our bank has maintained its position as the most profitable bank in Zambia for three years in a row.”

Standard Chartered has focused heavily on improving its technology and its mobile and internet banking services in the past year. Mr Okai says this will become increasingly vital for banks in the country, with Standard Chartered wanting to cement its place as the most technologically advanced of its competitors. 

“We have made tremendous progress in our digital bank offering to clients,” he says. “This will change the way our customers do their banking on the back of technological advances.”

Despite its near-term issues, Zambia’s economic growth is strong. Gross domestic product expanded by more than 7% in real terms in 2012 and is forecast to do so again in 2013. As such, Mr Okai is excited about the prospects for the banking industry. He says Standard Chartered will continue to improve its digital services. Among the key sectors, he believes, will be mining agriculture and construction.

Zimbabwe: Standard Chartered Zimbabwe

Like many other industries in Zimbabwe, the banking sector has suffered significantly from the country’s economic plight since the late 1990s. Between 2009 and 2011, growth picked up after the Zimbabwe dollar was scrapped, bringing an end to hyperinflation. But hopes that the recovery would be lasting have been quashed, with gross domestic product forecast by local economists to rise by no more than 3% this year. The outlook is especially uncertain following elections in late July that gave Robert Mugabe’s Zanu-PF a majority in parliament.

One good sign for banks was a recent speech from the new finance minister in which he suggested that they would be spared from the government’s policy of making all foreign companies cede at least 51% of their shares to the state or black Zimbabweans. The country’s lenders still have plenty of problems to contend with, however, including low levels of liquidity, the absence of an interbank market and the difficulty of raising deposits.

Standard Chartered Zimbabwe has continued to do well in spite of such conditions. Its assets rose 20% to $389m in 2012, and its net profit of $17m, while down 21% from a year earlier, amounted to a return on equity of 27%. The bank has made plenty of effort to minimise its exposure to problem asset classes, of which there are no shortage in Zimbabwe, and optimise its return on capital when it does use its balance sheet.

It has also invested in its digital banking services, realising that young Zimbabweans, in particular, increasingly want to access their accounts via mobile phones and the internet, rather than having to move to a branch.

Ralph Watungwa, the bank’s chief executive, says that while conditions in the banking sector are tough, Standard Chartered’s high levels of capital leave it well positioned to exploit what opportunities do arise. 

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