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 $9.8bn. This represented a 3.7% 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.
