Policy chief defends MENA role; Russian operations under scrutiny.

Euromoney's Awards for Excellence recognise the institutions and individuals that demonstrate leadership, innovation, and momentum in the markets in which they excel.

Nemeh Sabbagh, CEO, Arab Bank

This is no longer a straightforward award to give. There are at least five homegrown houses that can make a good case to be the best in the region.

The Bahrain award is one of the easier ones in the region to decide upon; Ahli United is the leader on almost any metric. Its $579.4 million net profit for the 2013 financial year ($366.5 million after allowing for a one-off exceptional gain) was a record and a 25.7% improvement on the previous year, as well as being the biggest profit in the country’s banking industry. Total assets grew 9.3% to $32.65 billion; loans, 8.3%; customer deposits, 17.4%. NPLs are a healthy 2.4% and total provisions for those NPLs 149.4%, while the bank’s capital adequacy ratio now stands at 16.2%. Most of these metrics lead the industry.

Policymakers in Africa need to focus not only on physical boundaries to Africa’s development, but also on mental barriers that hamper meaningful continental integration.

The African Development Bank’s Africa50 fund aims to attract institutional investors to commercially viable infrastructure projects in the continent, but there is still a huge gap to fill, say infrastructure experts.

The Rwanda debt market has been given a boost after the successful issue of the International Finance Corporation’s first bond in Rwandan francs, but regulators face an uphill battle to nurture the fledgling bond market.

With faith slowly restored in Brazil, India and Indonesia this year, there is no longer a fragile five of large EMs, leading risk experts to shift focus to the fragility of borrowers in sub-Saharan Africa.

During a discussion on capital market development at the annual meeting of the African Development Bank in Rwanda, panellists argued sovereign sukuk issuance will finally take off this year in a bid to diversify sources of long-term dollar financing away from the Eurobond market.

Diamond Bank is the latest Nigerian lender to issue Eurobond; dollar funding is necessary for the oil and gas sector.

Comprised of Sub-Saharan Africa research and Best managed companies in Sub-Saharan Africa surveys

Overall results

By Sector

Best managed companies by sector

In a series of quick-fire questions, Euromoney’s rising stars were asked which African countries they believed to have the most untapped potential. Here they discuss the ones on course to thrive – if those countries can get their act together.

Sub-Saharan Africa’s capital markets are deepening and breakthrough deals are continuously setting the pace for change in the developing market. Here, Euromoney’s rising stars share the deals - old and new - which stand out and have played their part in transforming the capital market landscape in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Nationality: Cameroonian, based in Nigeria

Nationality: Ghanaian

Nationality: Rwandan

Nationality: Ghanaian, based in Nigeria

Nationality: South African

Africans are reclaiming their future and flocking back to a continent that many left in search of a better life. Home is where the heart is, but now it’s also where the opportunity is. Euromoney’s rising stars are grabbing the opportunities Africa has to offer and setting the standards for others to follow.

Nationality: Kenyan

Nationality: South African

Nationality: Nigerian

Nationality: Ghanaian

Nationality: Nigerian

Nationality: Ghanaian, based in UK