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Panama

Panama had a solid 2023, with economic growth of 5%, but that belies the significant challenges that the country’s new president, José Raúl Mulino, will face. The closure of the country’s copper mine will add to the fiscal pressures that the increasing deficits from the country’s social pension system are creating. A drought has also affected the Panama Canal, a major revenue source for the government, and the economic outlook will likely get tougher from here.

July 19, 2024

Uzbekistan

Benefiting from robust economic growth in the country, Uzbekistan’s banking sector continued its rapid expansion last year and one bank led the pack, SQB, the country’s second largest lender.

July 19, 2024

Jamaica

Scotiabank has demonstrated remarkable consistency amid a very volatile economic period, reflecting the management team’s focus on initiatives to improve the productivity and efficiency of the bank.

July 19, 2024

DR Congo

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.

July 19, 2024

Nigeria

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.

July 19, 2024

Paraguay

Paraguay continues to prove that a raft of business-friendly economic policies can pay off in Latin America, with the small landlocked country enjoying GDP growth of 4.5%. Part of that bump was due to the recovery from the previous year’s drought, but economists are confident of another year of growth above 3% in 2024.

July 19, 2024

Mozambique

Millennium bim, Euromoney’s best bank in Mozambique this year, has focused its efforts on technological improvements during the period under review.

July 19, 2024

Costa Rica

While Mexico is at the centre of the nearshoring debate, Costa Rica is quietly getting the job done. In 2023 the country attracted foreign direct investment inflows equal to 12% of its economy, which in turn drove economic growth above 5%. Costa Rica has long been an appealing place to develop service companies that sell into the US, including 170 shared service centres that perform back office and strategic operations for parent companies.

July 19, 2024

Tunisia

The banking environment in Tunisia worsened last year due to the absence of a financing package to meet the government’s funding needs. This led to Moody's downgrading four banks in January 2023 because of the sovereign downgrade. The agency changed its outlook on the sector to stable in January 2024.

July 19, 2024

Awards for Excellence: Best bank in Angola – Banco Angolano de Investimentos

Banco Angolano de Investimentos (BAI) posted impressive financial results for 2023. Profit before tax stood at AKz220 billion ($250 million), almost double its 2022 result (AKz115 billion), and the bank achieved a return on equity of 36%, up from 26% the year before.

July 19, 2024

Awards for Excellence: Best bank for ESG in Germany – ING

For its mix of sustainable finance structuring expertise and innovation in retail banking, ING wins the award this year.

July 19, 2024

Awards for Excellence

Latin America’s best bank for sustainable finance: BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas has enviable sustainable finance credentials globally, but Latin America has become a particular area of strength for the French bank. In 2023, it led on some truly landmark transactions for clients throughout the region and can claim to be leading the evolution of sustainable finance in Latin America.

July 19, 2024

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