First Bank of Nigeria (FirstBank) wins the best bank for corporates award this year for its investment in digital, support of sustainability and the financial performance it has delivered.

Societe Generale Côte d’Ivoire is again named the best bank in the country after a year in which profit before tax was up 32% at CFEFr120 billion ($42 million) from CFEFr91 billion in 2022. The bank has shown strong commitment to the Ivory Coast despite exiting other African markets such as the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Mauritania and Chad. Indeed, Societe Generale deputy CEO of the group Pierre Palmieri visited Abidjan last year to reinforce this.

Standard Bank successfully implemented innovative digital products across all banking segments in 2023 while also making important philanthropic contributions in Malawi.

Stanbic Bank Uganda (SBU) turned in a strong performance over the review period. Net profit was USh421 billion ($110 million), up 18% from USh357 billion in 2022. Net loans increased to USh4 trillion, while deposits ended the year at USh6 trillion, both up 3% on 2022.

Ecobank Guinea rolled out its Xpress Loan service in Guinea last year, which enables customers to obtain short-term micro credit loans using their mobile phones. The service was launched in partnership with Dubai fintech Optasia and pan-African telecommunications giant MTN.

Ecobank Gabon delivered strong growth over the awards period while also expanding its product suite.

Equity Bank Kenya claims its mission is to empower clients and stakeholders, both socially and economically.

Access Bank Gambia impressed this year with its strong financial results, effective support for small and medium-sized enterprises and important philanthropic work.

For a global lender, Citi’s investment-banking presence in Africa is hard to compete with. The US firm has an onshore presence in 16 countries and covers 38 markets, with a dedicated team in Johannesburg supported by corporate bankers across the region.

Nedbank wins the best digital bank in Africa award for the second year in a row, courtesy of its push to reform and re-engineer its IT system, with the aim of cutting costs, attracting new business and favouring an approach that focuses on evolution rather than revolution.

Getting M&A right in Africa is not easy – big-ticket transactions are rare, and deal flow tends to come in fits and starts – but Standard Bank has got it down to a fine art.

A strong financial performance together with a series of new initiatives, including in environmental, social and governance, make Standard Bank Euromoney’s best bank in South Africa this year.

Awash Bank greatly expanded its digital solutions last year, achieving high levels of engagement across mobile and internet banking.

NMB Bank is Euromoney’s best bank in Tanzania for 2024. Total assets grew by 19%, from $3.95 billion at the end of 2022 to $4.7 billion at the end of 2023. Net profit was also up 26% at $208.6 million. Both increases are the product of loan growth of 28% and a rise in the number of customer accounts – the bank opened 1.2 million new accounts in 2023 alone.

Attijariwafa Bank remains the bank to beat in Morocco. In a year that saw profits grow 20% to Dh13.8 billion ($1.4 billion), it has focused its efforts on promoting private investment in the country.

Bank of Kigali is again Euromoney’s best bank in Rwanda this year.

Access Bank made profit before tax of N569 billion ($380 million) in 2023, a big improvement on the previous year's N163 billion. This was in part due to the devaluation of the naira in 2023, but was also driven by the bank’s aggressive expansion strategy, which has seen its footprint in Africa expand and the establishment of its first branch in France.

Banco Angolano de Investimentos (BAI) posted impressive financial results for 2023. Profit before tax stood at AKz220 billion ($250 million), almost double its 2022 result (AKz115 billion), and the bank achieved a return on equity of 36%, up from 26% the year before.

In a year (very) short on equity capital markets activity, it was in the debt and the loan market that Standard Bank shone brightest in 2023.

For the second year in a row, Standard Bank walks away with the award for the best bank in Africa. And for good reason.

Zambia National Commercial Bank (Zanaco) is again Euromoney’s best bank in Zambia. Profit before tax increased 44% year on year to KK1.74 billion ($65 million), including a 109% boost in the third quarter driven by income earned on government securities, trading and an uptick in net fees and commission.

Equity Bank continued to grow its total assets in 2023, surpassing the KSh1 trillion ($7.7 billion) mark at the end of the year. The bank maintained a third of its consumer loans to salaried civil servants, teachers and private-sector employees at 13% interest, despite the central bank hiking rates much higher.

Citi stands head and shoulders above its rivals in this category. The products it generates are designed to help day-to-day business for all its clients, be they global corporates working in and across Africa, or African firms scaling up their regional and international presence.

Societe Generale’s global reputation as a driver of green and sustainable principles and investment, plus its long presence across Africa, combine to make the Paris-based lender a clear winner of this award on the continent.

The banking environment in Tunisia worsened last year due to the absence of a financing package to meet the government’s funding needs. This led to Moody's downgrading four banks in January 2023 because of the sovereign downgrade. The agency changed its outlook on the sector to stable in January 2024.

The banking sector in DR Congo is undergoing transition. The central bank has proposed new ownership requirements for banks in the country, stipulating that they must have at least four unrelated shareholders. At the same time, large banks outside the country, such as Kenya’s KCB and Equity Bank, are eyeing the market as a potential growth opportunity – hardly surprising when less than a third of the DR Congolese population has a bank account.

Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) had another good year in 2023 and is again the best bank in the country for the review period.

Millennium bim, Euromoney’s best bank in Mozambique this year, has focused its efforts on technological improvements during the period under review.

Led by its head of wealth and investment Jacques Els, Standard Bank Wealth & Investment is a private-banking powerhouse in Africa.

Morocco-based Bank of Africa boasts a long and storied history as a leading lender to regional small and medium-sized enterprises. Last year, it secured a €50 million credit line from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development to increase financing for SMEs across the continent.