Standard Bank, Africa’s largest banking group by assets and in over 20 Sub-Saharan African countries, has been awarded the Best Bank in Africa 2020 Award by Global Finance Magazine.
Global Finance Magazine is recognized as amongst the world’s most influential and credible banking and finance publications in the global banking industry.
SEE ALSO: Bank of Ghana Named the Central Bank of the Year 2019 for its Emphasis on Growth of Digital Payments
Founded in 1987, Global Finance regularly selects the top performers among banks and other providers of financial services and the awards have become a trusted standard of excellence for the global financial community.
With over 1, 200 branches in total, Standard Bank, with its home base in South Africa, is a major facilitator of financial flows into and across Africa. The institution has see rapid pace in harnessing digital capabilities through partnerships with companies like Amazon Web Services, MicroSoft and SalesForce.
One of its subsidiary banks, Stanbic Bank Uganda, with 80% ownership stake, was also recognized as the best bank in Uganda.
The African banking industry produced some of the highest returns on equity anywhere in the world in 2019, in some cases vastly outperforming their counterparts in more developed economies. Among the more dramatic examples are three of Global Finance’s 2020 Best Bank award winners:
- BNI Madagascar, with an ROE of 43.6%
- Fidelity Bank Ghana, at 32.0%; and
- Zenith Bank in Nigeria, at 23.8%.
For comparison, US banks’ average ROE has hovered in the range of 3% to 12% for the past decade, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Here is the list of best banks awarded across the different African countries:
- Algeria – Societe Generale Algerie
- Angola – Banco de Fomento Angola
- Benin – Banque Atlantique
- Botswana – Absa Bank Botswana
- Burkina Faso – United Bank for Africa
- Cameroon – Societe Generale Cameroun
- Côte d’Ivoire – Banque Atlantique
- DR Congo – Trust Merchant Bank
- Djibouti – CAC International Bank
- Equatorial Guinea – National Bank of Equatorial Guinea
- Ethiopia – Commercial Bank of Ethiopia
- Gambia – Ecobank Gambia
- Ghana – Fidelity Bank Ghana
- Guinea – Societe Generale de Banques en Guinée
- Kenya – KCB Bank Kenya
- Madagascar – BNI Madagascar
- Malawi – National Bank of Malawi
- Mali – Ecobank Mali
- Mauritius – SBM Bank
- Morocco – Attijariwafa Bank
- Mozambique – Millennium bim
- Namibia – First National Bank of Namibia
- Nigeria – Zenith Bank
- Rwanda – I&M Bank Rwanda
- Senegal – Societe Generale Senegal
- Sierra Leone – Union Trust Bank
- South Africa – Standard Bank
- Sudan – Omdurman National Bank
- Tanzania – CRDB Bank
- Togo – Ecobank Togo
- Tunisia – Amen Bank
- Uganda – Stanbic Bank Uganda
- Zambia – Zambia National Commercial Bank
- Zimbabwe – CBZ Bank
The choice for Standard Bank and Stanbic Bank Uganda as the best bank on the continent is no big surprise to the crypto ecosystem on the African continent.
Standard Bank has been one of the most supportive financial institutions when it comes to crypto adoption on the African continent. The bank has facilitated and enabled crypto exchanges, especially in South Africa, to run accounts that offer instant bank withdrawals when other banks have put limitations on what exchanges can do.
Similarly, Stanbic bank Uganda has been at the forefront when it comes to blockchain and crypto adoption by supporting Binance Uganda in its efforts to run banking accounts for its clients.
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