Struggling South Africa still out in front in Africa

摘要

For South Africa's banking sector, the largest in Africa, 2014 passed in a similar vein to 2013 - both years were dominated by the weak performance of the national economy and the ensuing volatility of the rand. In 2013, the rand lost 13% of its value against the dollar, and though 2014 did not see another rapid depreciation, rand volatility remained high. This hampered the ability of South Africa's banks to improve their capital adequacy. Four out of its top five lenders have fallen in the Top 1000 World Banks 2015 ranking, with a sixth, African Bank, dropping out of the table entirely. Standard Bank remains the continent's largest bank, though it has dropped from 116th to 123rd in the overall ranking and its Tier 1 capital has fallen slightly from $10.56bn to $10.18bn. FirstRand has held its regional ranking position and increased its capital slightly, but Nedbank Group has dropped from 195th position to 216th and has seen its capital base drop to $4.76bn, from $5.11bn. Barclays Africa Group, previously known as Absa Group, would have come third in the African rankings with a Tier 1 capital base of $6.09bn, but is excluded from the main ranking as it is a subsidiary of the UK's Barclays.