African exchanges can be small, illiquid and difficult to navigate. Some regulators are making efforts to resolve these issues, while others struggle to keep up with investors' demands.

What’s in a name? Adel Saleh Al-Ghamdi is the chief executive of the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul). The brackets are important. They are a sign of the increasing attention he and his institution are paying to the world outside Saudi Arabia.

Executives from Diamond Bank and Carlyle reveal the rationale for the latter's investment in the lender, citing the long-term investment horizon despite the oil-driven volatility in Nigeria’s economy.

Second big hire this year; ramps up competition with Dubai.

Growing investor comfort in region; IFA culture developing.

The Central Bank of Seychelles has taken full control of one of nine banks on the Indian Ocean archipelago, in one of the clearest examples yet of the impact of global banks exiting correspondent banking relationships.

The development of Angola's capital markets has been long promised but recent indications from the country's capital-markets commission suggests secondary public-debt trading could begin as early as next month. Nevertheless, it's unclear when the stock exchange will open its doors.

The overwhelming retail demand for the Saudi bank’s $6 billion listing raises questions about how the country’s equity market will respond to its opening up to foreign investors.

Bank analysts and equity investors give their opinions on which companies they think are the best by the individual company sectors.

Best Middle East Research House 2014: Results by sector

Best Managed Companies in the Middle East 2013: By Sector

Overall results Best research provider overall

Best Middle East Research House 2014: Overall results categories Best research provider overall

Local brokerages dominate the 2014 Euromoney Middle East Research rankings. With international interest in the region’s stock markets set to reach new heights, the big global investment banks have a lot of catching up to do. They can start by renewing their commitment to research in the region.

Albert Essien has brought much-needed calm to a bank that, just a few months ago, was in crisis. Ecobank’s African network remains intact. It now has two powerful, strategic shareholders. But can the bank avoid repeating the mistakes of the past?

There’s no doubt mobile money is Africa’s future, but who is best equipped to benefit most: the telcos with their networks, or the banks with their products and service? And why are they fighting when they could be cooperating?

The QIA has found itself on both sides of a property spat. But when in-fighting turns into a court case, only the lawyers will end up winning.

Bahrain stuck in trading trough; Gulf markets are polarizing.

In candid remarks, Nigeria’s finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala sounds an upbeat note on exercising control in government spending in the run-up to the 2015 general election. However, outstanding structural reforms and declining oil demand pose risks for growth.

Nedbank and QNB’s increased shareholding in Ecobank has brought into question the bank’s future, but as Smit Crouse of Nedbank states, the South African bank has no intention of becoming a majority stake holder in the bank.

Turkey’s embattled investors can be forgiven feeling defensive, with economic challenges closing in on them from every side – from the Middle East crisis and strengthening dollar to the stubborn current-account deficit.

Intra-African trade is hindered by protectionism, while historical feuds threaten long-term development. The authorities should be doing more to fight these issues.

LIA ‘not financially illiterate’; relationship was ‘arm’s length’.

Over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market reform outside the US and Europe will be closely monitored by companies who use these derivatives to manage foreign-currency earnings exchange-rate risk.

US-led airstrikes in Iraq have heightened security concerns among international banks and companies operating in the country, but despite the growing crisis, banking business is still being won on the ground.

Ecobank’s transaction banking business in Africa has risen lock-step with the progress of the bank over the last five years, shooting up Euromoney’s Africa rankings. Now it needs to make its network pay.

Since 2009 ADCB has invested heavily in developing and growing its transaction banking business. It is gaining market share and recognition in the Middle East and beyond, as Euromoney’s results confirm.

Kenya’s top-tier corporates and financial institutions are primed to follow hot on the heels of the sovereign’s Eurobond issue. But the volume is likely to be modest relative to Nigeria.

Abebe Aemro Selassie, deputy director of the IMF’s African department, urges policymakers in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) to focus on making sure banking systems are robust. Rather than looking for short-term rewards of opening credit lines, he wants to see well-capitalized and regulated banks in countries where fiscal deficits are controlled.