Following a few fraught years – mainly due to low commodity prices affecting general economic performance – Africa’s two largest banking sectors, Nigeria and South Africa, saw their pre-tax profits soar by 31.8% and 38.2%, respectively, in 2017. However, not all of the continent’s countries experienced an uplift. Egypt saw aggregate profits drop by 18.5%, while Kenya recorded a 12% contraction in profits.
Out of all of the African countries, Nigeria had the highest number of banks in The Banker’s Top 1000 World Banks 2018 ranking with nine. The First Bank of Nigeria, in third place in the country based on Tier 1 capital, led on pre-tax profits, recording an impressive 498.4% increase. It was followed by Ecobank Nigeria with a 249.1% rise.
