bounce back

Top 200 African banks: Shaken by Covid-19, but showing resilience

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This article is part of the dossier:

Banking Africa

By Pierre-Olivier Rouaud

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Posted on October 25, 2021 10:25

A woman shows a screen of her smartphone, where Access bank mobile app is seen among others, in Abuja
A woman shows a screen of her smartphone, where Access bank mobile app is seen among others, in Abuja, Nigeria September 21, 2020. REUTERS/Afolabi Sotunde

EXCLUSIVE RANKING: AFRICA’S TOP 200 BANKS Pushed off balance, like the rest of the continental economy, by the Covid-19 crisis, Africa’s big banks have nevertheless shown adaptability during this period, and some are already bouncing back.

This article is linked to our ranking of Africa’s top 200 banks. The exclusive and searchable ranking is included on this page, reserved for our subscribers

We are living in an unprecedented period. Like the rest of the planet, the African continent has been on an economic roller coaster since the beginning of 2020. At a time when we seem to be approaching the end of the crisis period, the African Development Bank forecasts a growth rate of 3.4% in 2021 and 4.6% in 2022 in sub-Saharan Africa, after growth of just 2.1% last year.

Top 200 African banks

In 2020, all the countries on the continent saw their growth slump or even collapse. These poor figures are reflected in the net banking income (NBI) of the 200 banks in our ranking. This key indicator – which measures the difference between revenue and expenditure – plunged, cumulatively, by 14.7% in 2020 to $71.4bn. A historic drop that

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