The president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development talks about the bank’s role in promoting private-sector development in north Africa and the Levant following the Arab Spring. 

The best of the best are celebrated as The Banker crowns the global Bank of the Year, and hands out the laurels for our regional winners and the lender that has excelled the most when it comes to financial inclusion.

Africa's top lenders from 2014.

Ghanaian independent power project sponsor Cenpower proved that African money can finance African private sector infrastructure initiatives by raising $900m in project finance to develop the Kpone Independent Power Plant.

South Africa’s growth has been sluggish of late but the country’s financial sector remains one of the world’s most sophisticated, while the government’s reforms are allowing businesses to tap into fast-growing markets in the rest of sub-Saharan Africa more easily.

With oil and gas output diminishing, Algeria is desperate to diversify its economy and avoid a continued slide towards unsustainable fiscal deficits. The country’s political stability hinges on whether or not it succeeds.

The development of mobile financial services in Tanzania is bringing the high number of unbanked residents into the financial system. 

Banks across the Arab world are prospering, according to The Banker’s Top 100 Arab banks ranking, thanks to the health of the financial sector despite ongoing political and security risks in some areas.

With many north African countries in political and economic turmoil, Morocco’s stability and strong growth are proving attractive for Gulf-based investors looking to access the north African market.