The Banker’s Central Bank Governor of the Year awards celebrate the officials who managed to restore economic stability and even growth to their countries following a turbulent few years.

Africa’s underdeveloped economies and financial sectors have proved a barrier for central banks implementing monetary policy and prudential regulation. But recent years have seen significant progress, thanks in no small part to central banks’ growing independence from governments.

Sim Tshabalala, the recently appointed co-chief executive of South Africa’s Standard Bank, tells Paul Wallace about his plans to grow in Africa and connect the region to the world’s investors. He also explains why replacing Jacko Maree with joint CEOs was the right decision. 

South Africa’s banks still dwarf those in the rest of Africa, but other countries are slowly gaining on their peer.

With balance sheet clean-ups continuing in Europe and the US, banks in emerging markets have grabbed the opportunity to forge stronger relationships with local commodity producers. 

To maintain its phenomenal growth rates, Islamic finance is increasingly looking beyond sukuk and property investment to growth areas such as renewable energy and healthcare. 

South Africa’s banks are among the world’s best regulated, and though a sluggish economy is straining revenue growth, expansion in to the rest of Africa and a rapid increase in unsecured lending are providing some respite.

South Africa’s capital markets have been resilient amid a surge of negative news emanating from the country following the killing of 34 miners in August. But many bankers say the situation could deteriorate quickly if economic growth does not pick up or if labour unrest is not calmed.