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Albania I Belarus I Bosnia & Herezegovina I Bulgaria I Croatia I Czech Republic I Georgia I Hungary I Poland I Romania I Russia I Serbia I Slovakia I Slovenia I Turkey I Ukraine HVB Bank Biochim is this year’s best bank in Bulgaria. Following its acquisition of Hebros Bank in 2005, combined with strong organic growth, it has cemented its position as the number one bank in corporate loans in Bulgaria, and is in the top three for assets, retail loans and overall loans.

Albania I Belarus I Bosnia & Herezegovina I Bulgaria I Croatia I Czech Republic I Georgia I Hungary I Poland I Romania I Russia I Serbia I Slovakia I Slovenia I Turkey I Ukraine Bank of Georgia is the stand-out leader in the Georgian banking sector. It has attracted the cream of eastern European investors into its assets, such as East Capital and Firebird Management, and its shares have performed very well on the Tbilisi Stock Exchange. It is now preparing for a listing, probably on AIM in London.

Botswana I Ethopia I The Gambia I Ghana I Kenya I Malawi I Mauritius I Namibia I Nigeria I Senegal I South Africa I Swaziland I Tanzania I Togo I Uganda I Zambia I Zimbabwe Malawi is one of the world’s poorest countries and was one of the few African economies to contract in 2005, with GDP falling 3%. The agricultural sector has been hit by drought in both 2005 and 2006 and with agricultural products representing 80% of exports and 36% of GDP, the country’s performance has inevitably taken a turn for the worse.

Bahrain I Egypt I Iran I Israel I Jordan I Kuwait I Lebanon I Morocco I Oman I Qatar I Saudi Arabia I United Arab Emirates I Lifetime Achievement With the growing presence of regional and international banks, and a much stronger performance from some of the local financial institutions such as Arab African International Bank, the contest to be the leading bank is more closely fought than ever.

Azerbaijan I Kazakhstan I Kyrgyzstan I Uzbekistan The Kazakh banking sector has been doing extremely well, with total assets growing by about 40% last year. We have decided to give the award for best Kazakh bank to Halyk Bank, because it is best positioned where the juiciest growth is – in retail lending and mortgages. Its consumer loan portfolio grew by 25% last year, and it has secured the top spot in the credit card market. It also has over 25% of the mortgage market. It now remains to be seen if CEO Grigori Marchenko can make good on his intention to attract a foreign buyer this year.

Botswana I Ethopia I The Gambia I Ghana I Kenya I Malawi I Mauritius I Namibia I Nigeria I Senegal I South Africa I Swaziland I Tanzania I Togo I Uganda I Zambia I Zimbabwe Namibia has benefited from soaring mineral prices – mining accounts for 20% of GDP – and GDP grew 3.5% in 2005. But the country’s strong performance continues to mask the world’s worst inequality of income distribution – a real threat to stability.

Botswana I Ethopia I The Gambia I Ghana I Kenya I Malawi I Mauritius I Namibia I Nigeria I Senegal I South Africa I Swaziland I Tanzania I Togo I Uganda I Zambia I Zimbabwe The South African economy has benefited from the global boom in commodity prices – the country is the world’s largest producer of platinum, gold and chromium – in the past year and grew at a strong 4.9% in 2005. Although annual GDP per capita of $12,000 is not substantially higher than levels in other middle income sub-Saharan African countries, the size of the economy is in a different league to the rest of the continent. Consequently, the banking market in South Africa is vastly more developed in terms of competition, services and the sophistication of banks, corporates and retail clients.

Bahrain I Egypt I Iran I Israel I Jordan I Kuwait I Lebanon I Morocco I Oman I Qatar I Saudi Arabia I United Arab Emirates I Lifetime Achievement UBS has Bank Hapoalim, winner of this year’s best bank award, on its list of top five global emerging market stocks. It’s easy to see why. The bank reported record results for the first quarter of 2006, with increased revenues, capital gains and lower bad debt provisions all contributing to a net profit of NIS1.177 billion ($260.4 billion). This compares favourably with last year’s Q1 figure of NIS924 million, and with analysts’ consensus estimate of about NIS1.157 billion. Impressive numbers aside, Hapoalim has also been commended by analysts for having better management and greater transparency than its rival, Bank Leumi.

Bahrain I Egypt I Iran I Israel I Jordan I Kuwait I Lebanon I Morocco I Oman I Qatar I Saudi Arabia I United Arab Emirates I Lifetime Achievement Competition has intensified in Kuwait in the past couple of years. The standard of products and services is higher than ever before and a number of banks, headed by Commercial Bank of Kuwait, are now offering a real challenge to National Bank of Kuwait’s dominant position.

Bahrain I Egypt I Iran I Israel I Jordan I Kuwait I Lebanon I Morocco I Oman I Qatar I Saudi Arabia I United Arab Emirates I Lifetime Achievement Despite tough competition from Gulf International Bank, Ahli United Bank took the best bank award because of its bold and pioneering strategy to create a bank with a strong regional presence through mergers and acquisitions.

Bahrain I Egypt I Iran I Israel I Jordan I Kuwait I Lebanon I Morocco I Oman I Qatar I Saudi Arabia I United Arab Emirates I Lifetime Achievement The performance of Jordan’s banks has improved substantially in recent years, with more of them now prepared to offer innovative solutions to their customers. Institutions like the Housing Bank have performed well but the market is still dominated by Arab Bank, which wins the award for best bank for its continued domination of the retail and corporate market and its readiness to continue its strategy of international expansion.

Bahrain I Egypt I Iran I Israel I Jordan I Kuwait I Lebanon I Morocco I Oman I Qatar I Saudi Arabia I United Arab Emirates I Lifetime Achievement Competition in Oman is becoming much more intense, particularly with the strong performance of the National Bank of Oman, which is now under Qatari ownership. But Bank Muscat remains the outstandingly strong financial institution in the country and last year became the first bank from a Gulf Cooperation Council country to be listed on the London Stock Exchange when it issued $163 million-worth of global depositary receipts.