Africa’s agricultural sector may still be underdeveloped, but it is growing as investors increasingly seek to exploit local and regional sources of demand and develop the continent’s processing capacity. A greater provision of banking services is also helping.

Despite the rapid growth that Qatar – and its banking sector – has experienced in recent years, the country's government is not resting on its laurels and is actively looking to address issues such as an overcrowding of the market, overdependence on foreign funding and the economy’s lack of diversification. 

SMEs are often cited as the backbone of any given developed economy. However, in Europe in particular, a lack of financing from banks is stunting the growth of these businesses. Alternative lending models are rising in prominence, and some banks are looking to up their game in this sector, but is this too little, too late?

Large capital inflows and structural changes at home are just two of the challenges for Singapore's economy, says the Monetary Authority of Singapore's managing director.

A sovereign bond issue by Rwanda took the capital markets into uncharted territory, but the syndicate team at BNP Paribas found investors keen to seize the opportunity to diversify their portfolios.

Panama's buoyant economy has allowed its banking sector to flourish. And, with future economic growth as good as guaranteed with the forthcoming completion of the Panama Canal expansion, many of the country's lenders are making moves to further capitalise on the country's prosperous position.

The eurozone crisis has led to a surge in corporate bond issuance among European companies as they look to diversify from bank funding. But the relationship between banks and corporate clients has scarcely weakened. In some ways, it might even have strengthened.