As ever, South African banks dominate our table of the biggest banks in Southern Africa, filling the top six positions. This is an established pattern, with the South African market dominated by the big six and no other banks from the country making it into our table. Despite the establishment of digital-first banks in the country, none yet rank among the 20 biggest banks in the region.
Standard Bank remains by far the biggest bank in Africa but the biggest growth this year was been achieved by Absa Bank, which has increased its Tier 1 capital from 4.7bn in our 2024 survey to 5.6bn this year.
While the combined capital of the Top 20 has increased from 37.4bn to 40.4bn over the past year, that growth - as in other parts of the continent - is concentrated among the very biggest banks.