Major shift in African banking

As foreign banks retreat from the continent, local lenders are stepping up to fill the gap

- Reginald Ntomba

Africa’s banking sector is undergoing a structural shift as longstanding multinational banks exit the continent, creating space for local lenders to expand their footprint and influence.

The transition can be traced to early 2016 when Barclays, in Africa since 1916, announced its gradual exit from the continent. The move was completed in 2022 with the sale of its last 7.4% stake to South Africa’s Absa Group, enabling it to gain presence in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, in a deal then valued at $2.1 billion.

Atlas Mara, another British group formerly led by Bob Diamond, an old Barclays hand, followed suit in 2019, leaving Rwanda, Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania.

Standard Chartered (Stanchart), one of the world’s oldest banks, has also been steadily scaling back from Africa since March 2022 when it first announced its major divestment from a market it entered in 1862. Its focus, it says, is now on corporate and investment banking, while hiving off its wealth and retail banking (WRB) units.

The main beneficiaries of the realignment have been Africa’s leading lenders, Nigeria’s homegrown Access Bank, and its South African counterparts Absa and FirstRand, who have moved quickly to buy the assets British banks are selling across the continent, thus expanding their reach.

In July 2023, Access Bank acquired Stanchart subsidiaries in Angola, Cameroon, The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania and Ivory Coast.