Investors have welcomed Nigeria’s new FX regime that was merged with the interbank rate in August, but doubts remain, as the market still grapples with multiple official rates.

Qatar’s financial sector might not be the only one to struggle under a blockade imposed on the country since June by a coalition of Middle Eastern states.

Air Berlin and Alitalia bankrupt after CEO change at Etihad; Abu Dhabi backs partner bonds.

Iraq’s former industry minister, Mohammed Alderajy, is brutally honest about the country’s culture of corruption and resistance to reform. The banking sector is far from immune. He says a new attitude is needed if Iraq is to improve its prospects for reconstruction.

Banks in Qatar have been hit hard by its powerful neighbours’ unexpected blockade, but finance, just like other sectors of the Qatari economy, is finding ways to cope with this sudden realignment of regional alliances.

Amr El-Garhy is Egypt’s ninth finance minister in a little over six years – and after a revolution, a coup d’état and last year’s surprise currency flotation, the Egyptian economy is in desperate need of stability. El-Garhy talks to Euromoney about the challenges facing him and the country.

Low oil prices have put Oman’s government under pressure, while regional political turmoil could make life even more uncomfortable. A new economic model is called for, but can the leaders in Muscat find one quickly enough?

It is not just corporations and states that have built up record debt levels: the indebtedness of the booming sub-sovereign market – especially among state-owned enterprises – can be difficult to see until something goes wrong. Should investors be spooked?

The Belt and Road Initiative offers much to the disparate markets of the Middle East and Africa, but not all those countries seem so enthusiastic in return.

Fintech and digital financial services are rushing in to help refugees and migrants access and transfer money, but their innovation isn’t just changing how humanitarian aid agencies operate – it’s also offering solutions for broader financial inclusion challenges.

In the refugee camps of Jordan and Lebanon, life for the many of the 5 million Syrians displaced by civil war somehow goes on. A whole new financial ecosystem is needed to support the amazing resilience and initiative of many of these refugees, who have little prospect of going home. It presents a new challenge for NGOs and they need the help of investors, financial institutions and the private sector. Euromoney visited camps in Jordan and urban areas in Lebanon to talk to aid workers, government and non-government officials and the refugees themselves to find out what role the banking system can play in alleviating the greatest humanitarian challenge of this century.

Euromoney's latest coverage of emerging markets, including FX, fixed income and equity market trends.

Spreads at multi-year lows as demand remains buoyant; Investors reverse underweight positions.

Morocco’s Banque Centrale Populaire has entered into negotiations with Bank of Kigali to acquire a minority stake in the Rwandan bank.

It is rare for financial market professionals to feel they are helping to save the world, but a new capital markets deal from the World Bank to help the poorest countries cope with pandemics might be doing just that

The award for best bank for wealth management in Africa this year goes to Standard Bank. With R79 billion ($6.14 billion) in wealth and investment assets under advisory, Standard Bank is Africa’s largest wealth manager.

Last year’s winner of best for markets in Africa – Standard Bank – was unable to hold off competition from Standard Chartered this year. With its 56 people-strong Africa sales team and trading team of 28 – making it the largest on the ground – Standard Chartered was difficult to beat.

Angola’s economy continues to suffer from low oil prices, a poorly functioning system of government and the influence of the state on the private sector.

Every bank in Africa is going digital, or at least saying that it is. Ecobank’s claims were certainly not empty statements as the pan-African bank demonstrated, for example, by launching a new mobile application in 2016. Ecobank is this year’s worthy winner of best digital bank in Africa.

Last year’s winner of the newly minted award for financing in Africa was Citi, and Citi again did well in the last 12 months. But Absa wins the award this time round, thanks in large part to its impressive work in South Africa.

For almost 50 years, Euromoney has been the leading publication for covering the growth of international finance. Over the past 12 months its coverage has included interviews with close to 100 bank CEOs, ministers of finance and central bank governors around the world.

Lending to small and medium-sized enterprises is an important part of banking in Africa, and an area of business that requires ever more support from the continent’s banks. Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) dominated the sector over the last year and so wins the title of best bank for SMEs.

This year’s winner of best bank in Africa is a marked departure from last year’s. After Equity Bank’s win in 2016, thanks to its dominance in the small and medium-sized enterprise and digital banking sectors, this year we reward Attijariwafa Bank, a financial institution that has long been the best in Morocco and is now asserting its credentials in the rest of Africa.

In a year that was difficult for much of Africa because of low commodity prices and especially the price of oil, which dragged down deal activity, one investment bank outshone its peers, managing to remain busy throughout the period. That bank was Citi, which wins this year’s best investment bank in Africa award.

Kenya Commercial Bank wins this year’s award for best bank for corporate social responsibility in Africa for the work of the KCB Foundation and, in particular, two ground-breaking initiatives. Last year, it launched 2jiajiri (‘let’s employ ourselves’) – a youth enterprise development and employment initiative that works in partnership with more than 100 technical training institutions across Kenya. More than 12,000 students have taken part so far in the programme, which aims to turn young people into entrepreneurs by training them and connecting them to graduates in law, accounting and marketing to help them get their businesses off-the-ground.

Given the tough market conditions in South Africa, a focus for Rand Merchant Bank was outbound M&A and private equity. The success of this strategy helped make it the best bank for advisory in Africa.

This year’s award for best bank transformation in Africa goes to National Microfinance Bank of Tanzania, a bank which has become a model for other African institutions in the areas of mobile banking, SME lending and microfinance.

Africa has been a difficult market to contend with over the last year, for both local and international banks operating across the continent. But with a widespread local and correspondent banking presence, Citi has taken this year’s award for Africa’s best bank in transaction services.

Dana Gas, an Emirati gas company, is using Shariah non-compliance as an argument in its sukuk restructuring talks. That remarkable move, if successful, could undermine the whole system of trust built around Islamic finance in the Middle East.

Several banks write off Syrian operations; they continue to be big shareholders.