Latest articles from Africa

Central Bank of Egypt teaser

Buoyant Egyptian banks target SMEs and unbanked in growth push

April 1, 2019

Egypt's banks enjoy good capital adequacy levels and low loan default rates. Many are eyeing the small business sector and an underbanked populace.

Cairo teaser

Is Egypt's tough reform programme paying off?

April 1, 2019

The IMF is ready to launch the next tranche of a $12bn loan package for Egypt, following government attempts to push through economic reforms. 

Olkari power plant teaser

Japan looks to Africa to offset stagnant domestic market

April 1, 2019

Lacking both resources and a youthful population, Japan is targeting African countries' nascent markets and plentiful commodities with generous development finance and infrastructure partnerships. Adrienne Klasa reports.

Lobna Helal teaser

Egypt's banking sector narrows the gender gap

April 1, 2019

Historically, women have been widely employed in Egypt's banks, with some now reaching top-level posts, including that of CEO. 

Adesola Adeduntan teaser

FirstBank CEO looks to blend experience and youth in Nigeria

April 1, 2019

Nigeria's oldest financial institution, FirstBank, may have notched up a century and a quarter, but its workforce and ideas are both young, CEO Adesola Adeduntan tells The Banker.

Diamond Bank teaser

Access-Diamond market-driven merger brings boost to Nigeria

March 1, 2019

The merger of Access Bank and Diamond Bank in Nigeria represents a landmark for a number of reasons, not least because the deal was market driven and not forced through by the central bank. 

UT Bank teaser

Sub-Saharan African markets eye the benefits of consolidation

March 1, 2019

The heightened M&A activity in sub-Saharan Africa is garnering enthusiasm over the potential creation of a leaner, fitter and more adaptable banking sector across the region. 

Standard Bank teaser

AI in Africa: a different kind of intelligence

February 1, 2019

AI has still to make its presence felt in Africa's banking sector, but brings with it opportunities to bank the unbanked and engage with the continent's youthful population. However, as Kit Gillet reports, Africa's unique needs mean achieving these goals is not straightforward.

Political stability could boost resurgent profits for DRC banks

January 31, 2019
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Signs of increasing political stability would be good news for the  economy  in the Democratic Republic of Congo and its banking sector, which has huge scope for growth. Kat Van Hoof reports.

Rogerio Zandamela teaser

Rogério Zandamela: Restructuring Mozambique for a post-debt crisis revival

January 2, 2019

Rogério Zandamela, a former senior IMF official and now the governor of Mozambique’s central bank, talks to Peter Wise about repairing the damage inflicted by the country's debt crisis, upgrading its banking regulation and the prospects for an economy about to tap huge natural gas resources.