Though the Middle East’s banking sector once lagged behind others in digital technology, that has been changing in recent years.

This year’s best bank in the Middle East has come a long way to reclaim the title it last won a decade ago. In 2009, we praised Arab Bank for its unmatched ability to survive a crisis, having coped with, and even grown during, the financial crisis that overcame the world’s markets the year before.

Funding for small and medium-sized businesses remains largely deficient across the Middle East. The region’s economies could grow by a further 1% each year if access to finance improved for SMEs, the International Monetary Fund’s managing director Christine Lagarde said earlier this year.

Perhaps the greatest sign that a merger has been successful is if it motivates others to follow suit. That has certainly been the case with the formation of First Abu Dhabi Bank, the Emirati financial institution which we recognise this year as having effected the best bank transformation across the Middle East.

Reclaiming the award it last won in 2017, First Abu Dhabi Bank is this year’s best bank for financing in the Middle East.

In a year of mega deals, one bank – and not the one most might have expected – stood out from the lot. That bank was Goldman Sachs, this year’s best bank for advisory in the Middle East.

In a career in banking that spans more than four decades, Michel Accad’s talent for making the best of bad situations has earned him the overwhelming respect of his peers.

Dethroning last year’s winner Standard Chartered was no easy feat, but HSBC accomplished it through strong growth and a renewed commitment to the region, which is headed by Martin Tricaud, CEO for the Middle East, North Africa and Turkey.

Arab Bank named Middle East’s best bank in Euromoney Awards for Excellence 2019; EFG Hermes scoops regional investment banking award; Accad recognised for outstanding contribution to finance.

This year Egypt’s Commercial International Bank (CIB) wins best bank for corporate responsibility in the Middle East.

It is, perhaps, a sorry state of affairs that local banks straggle behind global institutions when it comes to providing the best wealth management services in the Middle East. But such is still the case, and so Credit Suisse once again stands above the rest.

Bahrain Best Bank

Banking and capital markets in Asia, central and eastern Europe and Africa have been transformed over the last 50 years, but the change in Asia is particularly breath-taking.

Africa has long had a fraught relationship with the capital markets – can the continent put that difficult history behind it and, crucially, fund the next stage of its development?

As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Africa focus.

For 50 years, Euromoney has followed the vicissitudes of a continent that has moved into and out of favour with international banks and grappled with developing its own capital market culture.

From digital banking to the retreat of international firms, the future of African finance will be determined within its own borders. That gives the region a much better chance of success.

Africa has the largest number of refugees of any continent – in Uganda, many of them are economically active, while others are excluded from accessing basic banking products. Euromoney finds out how integrating refugees into the formal financial system could benefit the country.

As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Africa focus.

The continent is trying to force financial inclusion at a time when international banks are leaving. It is a hotbed of innovation but still lacks essential infrastructure. So how should we look at banking in a modern Africa?

As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Africa focus.

As Africa becomes embedded in the global financial and banking system, our journalists have travelled to some of the most challenging local markets to highlight opportunities – but sometimes trips don’t go to plan.

Commercial International Bank has opened a representative office in Ethiopia, implementing its programme of expansion into east Africa.

The deluge of bids for the debut issuers shows how reliant investors have become on primary allocation.

Closure of second investigation brings embarrassing episode to an end.

Launched in January, Fuliza has already attracted more than four million customers, and Bob Collymore, CEO of Safaricom, hopes the product will reach all 21 million M-Pesa customers in Kenya.

Working in Beirut in 1974 was a formative experience for Padraic Fallon, the long-serving editor and later chairman of Euromoney, and since then the magazine has set the standard for coverage of this often misunderstood region.

Of all the global corridors of trade and investment, the one between Latin America and the Middle East is among the least travelled.

Less than five years after Euromoney began, the Arab oil embargo gave international finance a shot in the arm and provided an extraordinary windfall to the Gulf, but as the oil boom has repeatedly turned to bust, commodity cycles have laid bare the vacuity of the region’s diversification programmes. Today, with local populations expanding, harder and less stable times could lie ahead if the region does not take more drastic action – even when oil prices bounce back.

For nearly two decades Dubai has acted as the beating heart of Middle Eastern finance, but now its long-dormant rivals are mounting successful efforts to reclaim a piece of the action.