Angola’s central bank has carried out a wave of reforms in recent years to improve its monetary policies and modernise the banking sector. And its governor, José de Lima Massano, says there is still more to come.

Angola’s government has launched several initiatives to boost the country's non-oil sectors. Some of these, including a hike in import tariffs in March, have proved controversial, while the business environment remains tough by global standards. But investors think the country still has plenty going for it.

Mozambique’s banking sector has grown rapidly in recently years, on the back of the country’s resources boom, and neither the country's large current account deficit or political tensions seem likely to scupper its health.

Angola’s banking sector has been hit by a recent rise in non-performing loans, a legacy of reckless lending in the past decade. But bankers are optimistic that the worst is over. 

Investors in Nigeria were shocked when central bank governor Lamido Sanusi was suspended in February. His likely successor, Godwin Emefiele, is a very different character, but he will be keen to prove he is no less independent.

Nigeria’s rapidly growing economy has increased its appeal to the world’s emerging market investors. But political tensions ahead of next year’s elections and failed reforms have exposed some glaring weaknesses.

The controversy that has dogged pan-African lender Ecobank in the last nine months has shaken it to its core. Last month Thierry Tanoh, its chief executive, was forced to stand down in what was the latest and, Ecobank shareholders will hope, possibly the last in a series of events that has dented the institution’s credibility.