First Bank of Nigeria (FirstBank) wins the best bank for corporates award this year for its investment in digital, support of sustainability and the financial performance it has delivered.

NMB Bank is Euromoney’s best bank in Tanzania for 2024. Total assets grew by 19%, from $3.95 billion at the end of 2022 to $4.7 billion at the end of 2023. Net profit was also up 26% at $208.6 million. Both increases are the product of loan growth of 28% and a rise in the number of customer accounts – the bank opened 1.2 million new accounts in 2023 alone.

Zambia National Commercial Bank (Zanaco) is again Euromoney’s best bank in Zambia. Profit before tax increased 44% year on year to KK1.74 billion ($65 million), including a 109% boost in the third quarter driven by income earned on government securities, trading and an uptick in net fees and commission.

A strong financial performance together with a series of new initiatives, including in environmental, social and governance, make Standard Bank Euromoney’s best bank in South Africa this year.

Access Bank made profit before tax of N569 billion ($380 million) in 2023, a big improvement on the previous year's N163 billion. This was in part due to the devaluation of the naira in 2023, but was also driven by the bank’s aggressive expansion strategy, which has seen its footprint in Africa expand and the establishment of its first branch in France.

For the second year in a row, Standard Bank walks away with the award for the best bank in Africa. And for good reason.

Ecobank Sierra Leone recorded double-digit growth in its commercial banking operations last year, with gross loans to business customers up by 45% to $11.8 million. Customer deposits were up by 3%, reaching $25.7 million.

Bank of Kigali is again Euromoney’s best bank in Rwanda this year.

The banking sector in DR Congo is undergoing transition. The central bank has proposed new ownership requirements for banks in the country, stipulating that they must have at least four unrelated shareholders. At the same time, large banks outside the country, such as Kenya’s KCB and Equity Bank, are eyeing the market as a potential growth opportunity – hardly surprising when less than a third of the DR Congolese population has a bank account.

Banks in Ghana have faced a difficult couple of years thanks to the government of Ghana’s debt default and domestic debt exchange programme announced in November 2022.

Euromoney recently sat down in Dubai with the heads of investment banking for HSBC in the Middle East. The conversation focused on the burgeoning trade and deal flow between the Gulf region and Asia, what investors on both sides are looking for and why they like what they see.

The Palestinian economy was already slowing ahead of the October 7 attacks, but the situation has deteriorated sharply since then. Growth had fallen by 3% year on year across the territories in the first half of the year and by 4.4% in Gaza itself.

For Israel’s banks, 2023 was a story of two distinct parts: the months prior to the Hamas attacks on October 7; and those after.

Sohar International Bank is Euromoney’s best bank in Oman this year. The landmark merger with HSBC Bank Oman in 2023 has resulted in substantial growth in assets, market share, market presence and workforce.

FAB was the clear winner of Euromoney’s best bank award in the UAE this year following a strong financial performance, improvements in environmental, social and governance and sustainable finance, and advancements in technology.

Kuwait Finance House (KFH) is Euromoney’s best bank in the country this year, following a record-setting financial performance and the consolidation of Ahli United Bank Kuwait.

Qatar National Bank (QNB)’s scale and banking power in the country seem unassailable across all banking businesses. It dominates activity, reporting more assets ($338 billion), loans ($234 billion), deposits ($235 billion) and net profit at the end of last year than that generated in each segment by all four of the other largest banks combined.

Al Rajhi Bank’s Bank of the Future strategy marked its final year in 2023, the end of a series of growth targets set when chief executive Waleed Al-Mogbel took the helm.

Commercial International Bank (CIB) has maintained its position as the bank to beat in Egypt during the review period.

Arab Bank, under the leadership of chief executive Randa Sadik, had another good year in Jordan despite acute geopolitical risks, surging inflation and unprecedented increases in interest rates.

Al Salam Bank enjoyed strong financial performance last year, while expanding its geographic footprint and innovating in the digital space. It is Euromoney’s best bank in Bahrain 2024.

If there were two areas for any investment bank’s Middle East advisory team to specialise in and prove all-round excellence in last year, they were the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and outbound transactions. JPMorgan excelled on both counts.

As more banks in the Middle East invest in their digital transformations, the largest banks in the region are competing to develop new digital products and services.

HSBC dominated the region’s debt capital markets across the awards period, completing 52 DCM transactions worth a total of $10.3 billion, according to data from Dealogic. In equity capital markets, the London-headquartered lender came second, completing seven deals worth $2 billion. It also ranked in initial stock offerings, completing six IPOs worth $1.38 billion in total.

It was another stellar year for First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB), under the continued leadership of group chief executive Hana Al Rostamani.

If you visit the website of National Bank of Bahrain (NBB), it doesn’t take long to recognise that it takes corporate responsibility seriously.

In the face of increasing competition among regional and global banks, HSBC has again demonstrated its financing strength and expertise in the Middle East across the breadth of markets, sectors and geographies it is a leader in.

Emirates NBD has successfully exported its small and medium-sized business banking operations from the UAE to its other core markets of Saudi Arabia and Egypt, creating a regional SME banking champion.

Last year was an important one for sustainable finance in the Middle East. Dubai hosted the COP28 conference, following on from Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt in 2022. This has well and truly put the spotlight on sustainable finance for banks, corporates and sovereigns in the region.

The provision of transaction services in the Middle East has become one of the most fiercely competitive parts of the market, largely concentrated around banks’ ability to support local and regional champions as well as blue-chip multinationals operating in the region.