After an improvement in fortunes in 2021, Africa’s largest banks once again found themselves under the cosh in 2022. Rising interest rates, the strong US dollar and challenges stemming from the war in Ukraine restricted economic growth across the continent.
The return to profitability witnessed in the previous ranking continues, as the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic continues to ease. Seventy of this year’s top 100 registered an increase in pre-tax profits for the year. Yet the weakness of major currencies has severely affected asset and capital bases, with just under half of lenders in the 2023 ranking experiencing a drop in Tier 1 capital in dollar terms for 2022.
