Overview
Africa is known for providing a very intricate and complex market for major private banks as a result of its unique regulatory framework and environment as well as the omnipresent risk surrounding political turmoil.
This past year has seen financial giants such as UBS and Credit Suisse downsize their operations in the African continent and bearing this in mind, what is the future of private banking in Africa?
In the international community, African banks have shown an increased competitive edge in terms of capitalization, investable assets, improved range of financial services including forex trading, wealth management products, and other components, especially when compared to other large international banks.
Even though some of them cannot be compared with some well-financed banks such as those in America and the United Kingdom, they can still favourably stand par with many others.
Standard Bank Group
Standard Bank of South Africa has been one of the topmost banks and financial institutions for several years. It is the richest bank group in Africa and has a presence in more than 20 African countries, and several others including Europe and the Americas.
Standard Bank Group is renowned for being highly instrumental in the development and financing of gold and diamond fields in South Africa. Standard Bank has total assets under management of more than $131 billion and there are more than 50,000 people employed by the bank.
Standard Bank is a proudly South African private banking and wealth & investment provider that has a significant number of private clients that make use of its services. Standard Bank Group also offers comprehensive retail banking, an impressive complimentary rewards programme, and more as part of its offering.
First Rand Bank
Situated in Johannesburg, South Africa, First Rand Bank is one of the largest, most successful South African banks that owes its success to its disruptive and innovative banking strategies associated with lending, investments, and acquisitions.
ABSA Group
ABSA Group is one of the prominent providers of retail banking services in Africa. Unlike other banks, ABSA Group offers a wide range of services which is not related to traditional banking including bancassurance, credit cards, wealth management, and investment management.
ABSA Group has a total of assets under management valued at $80.8 billion and the banking group has branches in several African countries including Ghana, Mozambique, Mauritius, Seychelles, South Africa, Uganda, Nigeria, and Zambia, to only name a few.
National Bank of Egypt
The National Bank of Egypt is one of the largest, most successful Egyptian Banks that has been around for decades. The success of the bank is often credited to the fact that it is a government-owned corporation and as such has the support of the Egyptian government.
The National Bank of Egypt offers a wide range of financial products as well as hospitable customer service. There are more than 350 bank branches in Egypt alone and the bank has an asset base of $75.6 billion, making it the largest commercial bank in Egypt and North Africa in terms of assets and network.
Nedbank Group
Nedbank Group is a heavily capitalized institution banking group and one of the largest five banks in South Africa and Africa overall. Nedbank Group has securities that are traded on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and the Namibian Stock Exchange.
Nedbank Group offers a range of services in areas concerned with insurance, wealth management, forex trading, and asset management. As a result of its wide range of services, Nedbank Group has one of the largest banking networks in Africa with a presence in 39 countries, with over 2,000 branches, and assets under management of $27 billion.