Five Nigerian banks which included Zenith Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc (GTBank), FirstBank Nigeria Limited, Access Bank Plc and the United Bank for Africa Plc, were ranked among The Banker Magazine’s 2018 1000 Global Banks, in a report released last night.

According to the ranking, Zenith Bank was placed first in Nigeria and 402nd bank in the world, showing that the financial institution moved 28 places up, compared with the 430th position it was placed last year.

In Nigeria, Zenith Bank was closely followed by GTBank as the second largest bank in Nigeria and 576th in the world.

Also, FirstBank was ranked the third in Nigeria and 592nd in the world.
Access Bank occupied the fourth position and was ranked 630th bank in the world, while UBA was placed fifth in Nigeria and 856th in the global ranking.

According to The Banker, Africa’s economic fortunes improved over the 2017 review period following a difficult couple of years in which lower commodity prices hit the performance of the continent’s largest markets.

“This slowly improving economic climate was reflected by the growth trajectory of Africa’s banks which have, across the board, posted relatively strong numbers in the 2018 Top 1000 World Banks ranking,” it stated.

Among the top 10 African banks by Tier 1 capital, South Africa’s Standard Bank once again scooped the top spot with $10 billion. This, it stated, was a significant jump from the $8.6 billion in Tier 1 capital the bank recorded in the 2017 ranking. Accordingly, its position in the global table has climbed from 149th to 145th.

Other South African lenders also performed well. FirstRand maintained second position in the Africa table while growing its Tier 1 capital position, while Nedbank also posted an increase to its Tier 1 capital despite surrendering third spot in the table to the ABSA Group.

Also, Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), at 337th position, was ranked third in the world.

“Exactly 10 years after the suspension of three US mortgage-focused funds signalled the start of the global financial crisis, the banking industry appears to be finding its feet. The banks in The Banker’s Top World Banks ranking for 2018 recorded double-digit growth in both capital and pre-tax profits, a feat not seen since 2010 when it was working from a much lower base.

“Together, the world’s largest 1000 banks hold nearly 12 per cent more Tier 1 capital in the 2018 ranking than they did in the 2017 version, marking the biggest annual increase since 2009.

“An even more reassuring sign of the industry’s resilience is that capital is growing at a faster pace than assets. This is revealed by the global capital-to-asset ratio, a variant of Basel’s three per cent leverage ratio, but which excludes off-balance-sheet items, rising 16 basis points (bps), compared with a more modest six bps one year ago,” it added (ThisDay)

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