Absa’s efforts to establish wholesale-banking partnerships outside Africa, possibly with Barclays or Société Générale, underlines the importance of international links to African finance.

Slower growth is translating into lower government spending on infrastructure. With an estimated funding deficit of $40 billion a year, private-sector solutions from Africa’s home-grown pension fund industry as well as international insurance firms could help plug the gap.

Cipla Quality Chemicals’ share sale is good news for Uganda’s capital markets, but is still something of a rarity. Investors have little choice when it comes to picking stocks: government borrowing remains high and puts the focus on bonds, while family-owned businesses tend to be wary of opening up to outside investment.

With global liquidity conditions tightening, local currency bond markets have a more important role to play in financing African governments and companies. While Ghana and Nigeria are leading the way, other markets are still in the early stages. Poor transparency and liquidity, and a multiplicity of legal regimes are holding back foreign investment.

As the central bank awards its first new banking licences in 20 years, the big four will find it harder to justify the fees that have underpinned their profitability. The newcomers promise technology will facilitate cheaper banking services and tackle inequality.

Senior management at Société Générale sees a unique opportunity for growth in Africa, including east Africa, Nigeria and the lusophone countries. The aim is to be much more than the only French bank left standing on the continent. Instead, the bank is courting regional clients by building local markets and structured finance platforms, while its investment in mobile money could be the seed of a much bigger African consumer business.

Egypt’s private-sector banks have traditionally been wary of lending to SMEs, but now a combination of new technology and central bank pressure is driving some of the country’s most sophisticated lenders to take a fresh look at the segment.

The west African state has reclaimed its status as the most attractive francophone market south of the Sahara. International banks are rushing to do business there.

Following in the footsteps of Egypt and South Africa, Nigeria has signed up for a currency swap deal with China, but are swaps all they are cracked up to be?

Even though the banking sector remains off-limits, foreign investment in other state-owned enterprises will support infrastructure development.

Sub-Sahara bounces back in ECR in step with LatAm, while debt, political instability and global protectionism constrain rises elsewhere.

In early 2016, the Middle East’s two largest countries looked set to become the world’s most vibrant frontier markets. Two years on, many bankers doubt that either Iran or Saudi Arabia can live up to these expectations.

Partnership could replace broken Barclays links; follows rumours of sale of Société Générale South Africa custody unit to Absa.

Delusional clients are complicating the business of collecting fees for advising on mega trades for customers such as Saudi Aramco and Tesla.

Saad Azhari has quietly ushered in a new era at Blom Bank. The outwardly conservative firm has embraced technology and pulled off a transformative acquisition for its wholesale business. But prudence remains the watchword in such a tempestuous market.

Video interview with Ebele Ogbue, general manager of UBA Energy Bank and Andrew Martin, CEO of UBA UK.

Inclusion in the emerging market index is recognition of the country’s reforms and could bring $50 billion of foreign investment.

Less onerous regulatory requirements and the proximity to markets where retail FX is prohibited continue to encourage brokers to set up shop in the Middle East, despite ongoing state protection for the Saudi Arabian currency.

Europe may not be enough after Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran deal.

Africa’s best investment bank, Standard Chartered, owes its success to its pre-eminence in foreign exchange, debt capital markets, loans, advisory, structured products and research.

The partial withdrawal of international firms from African banking has been a big theme on the continent for several years. Whether it is Barclays’ decision to exit Africa just 11 years after it bought Absa or Old Mutual’s separation from South Africa’s Nedbank, the trend has been towards a paring down of perceived African risk.

Access Bank in Nigeria, under managing director Herbert Wigwe, leads the way in social and environmental banking efforts, helping improve the country’s health and education, reducing emissions, spearheading sustainability and supporting financial inclusion. Its vast range of work wins Access Bank the award for Africa’s best bank for corporate responsibility.

The award for Africa’s best digital bank is, happily, an increasingly competitive one, as banks invest a lot of money and energy in innovative products for clients who have ever-greater access to mobile and internet technology, and an ever-decreasing willingness to travel to a bank branch.

Citi may not have won best investment bank in Africa this year, but the financing capabilities it displayed over the last 12 months deserve recognition. The bank showed strength in loans, debt capital markets and equity capital markets.

Africa has seen a seismic shift in its transaction banking operations in recent years. With many international banks retrenching, those who remain are bedding in and extending their reach across the continent.

Complete access for clients at any time and on any device has been Standard Bank’s focus in recent years; its commitment to this level of service has paid off. Its earnings were up 4.4% for wealth management and investments last year, and assets under management in discretionary portfolios increased by 6% to R82.5 billion ($6 billion). It once again wins the award for Africa’s best bank for wealth management.

On the back of the worst drought in living memory, the City of Cape Town issued South Africa’s first true green bond last year. It turned to one bank to be the lead arranger – Rand Merchant Bank (RMB). The city was able to raise R1 billion ($73 million) from eight allocated bidders, having received bids of almost R5 billion from 31 different bidders. The proceeds will be put to use financing green projects such as emergency water supply initiatives.

Africa's best bank

This year’s winner of Africa’s best bank transformation is a bank that, although small, has made big changes so that it is ready for growth and a more international future.

Most bankers working in Africa today believe that SME financing is the most vital contribution banking can make to the economic development of the continent. Yet the amount of credit lent to smaller African enterprises remains very low.