Investec Bank serves what it calls a “niche client base” in the U.K., South Africa and Australia. Globally, it manages over $105 billion in assets, and according to Investecassetmanagement.com, has achieved success by analyzing fundamental factors, valuations and market price behavior. It also offers asset classes where customers can learn investment strategies.
Banque Exterierue d’Algerie is a government-owned bank with a focus on commercial banking, asset management and investment funds. The bank opened in the 1960s but has continuously diversified its types of portfolios, according to Worldfinance.com. The bank won the Best Banking Group award from World Finance in 2013.
Attijariwafa Bank in Morocco provides banking as well as insurance services and products. Attijariwafa Bank also has a large group of subsidiaries including Wafa Immobilier, Wafa Assurance and Attijari Finances Corp, to name a few. It controls banks in Senegal, Tunisia, Mali and several other countries, with over 16,000 employees, according to Markets.ft.com.
National Bank of Egypt is the oldest and largest bank in Egypt, having opened in 1898 with a little over $1 million. The bank has branches in the U.K. In fact, nearly half of its assets are held in the U.K. — over $20 billion. The bank participates in interbank and foreign exchange markets as well as finance of international trade, and invests in gilt-edged securities, certificates of deposit and floating-rate notes, according to Nbeuk.com.
Nedbank Group currently has over $14 billion under management and saw a earnings in 2015 of over $320 million in a half year. As one of the four largest banks in South Africa, the company has nearly 2,000 outlets, 3,780 ATMs and almost 40,000 employees, as well as over 7 million clients, says Nedbank.co.za.
FirstRand’s portfolio boasts several top financial services franchises that range from commercial and retail banks to installment finance businesses, including First National Bank, Rand Merchant Bank, WesBank and Ashburton Investments. The group presented a 24.7 percent return on equity in 2015, a rate that’s considered very good results in the current macroeconomic environment, according to Rmbh.co.za. The company also increased its number of employees by nearly 4,000 between 2014 and 2015.
Barclays was one of the few western banks to blaze a trail into sub-Saharan Africa. Now it is preparing to pull out, Wall Street Journal reported. Barclays executives have decided that being majority owner of an African business no longer fits the bank’s strategy. Barclay’s Africa’s pretax profit was down $272 million pounds from 2014 to 2015, Bloomberg.com reported.
Standard Bank Group offers personal, commercial and corporate financial services and has branches in 32 countries including 20 in Africa. The Standard Bank of South Africa is the single largest operating entity within the Standard Bank Group,according to Standardbank.co.za. The largest bank in the world—the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China—is a 20.1 percent shareholder in the Standard Bank Group.
