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TOP 200 AFRICAN BANKS Rebuild, recapitalise, refocus
N° 117 • OCTOBER - NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 2021
SOUTH AFRICA Ramaphosa’s race to fix the ANC TITANS OF TECH The big beasts of Africa’s Silicon Savanna
www.theafricareport.com
BIG IDEA
DANGOTE’S
It’s probably because we started in the mobile sector that we’re moving up fast in financial services. More than 60 million people worldwide trust in Orange Money. Since its launch in Côte d’Ivoire 13 years ago, Orange Money has secured itself a place as a world leader in the financial services sector and aims to pave the way for financial inclusion in Africa and the Middle East. #OrangeMoney
Orange, limited company (“Société Anonyme”) with a share capital of €10,640,226,396 – Registered office: 111, quai du Président-Roosevelt 92130 – Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. Trade Register No. 380 .129 .866 Nanterre. Exclusive agent in banking and payment services for Orange Bank – Orias n° 13 001 387 (www.orias.fr).
EDITORIAL
CARBON MUST FALL!
Like calls to topple statues and governments, the war on carbon has the attributes of a resounding battle cry. More so, when almost everyone can agree. It’s not easy being green, but we must all try harder. The simplicity is deceptive. Beneath it lurks depths of hypocrisy and doubledealing. Ranged against that are the righteous campaigners to save the planet from carbon dioxide poisoning. Mostly young, they are angered by the obfuscation and lies of corporations and governments. Yet, this is another world – literally another century – from the Earth Summit in Rio in 1992. Uniting activists across the globe, Rio produced UN treaties on carbon levels, forests and water, triggering annual climate summits. At its core was the link between protecting the environment and accelerating sustainable development in Africa, Asia and South America. That has eroded. Governments are making climate less political and more about technical fixes and market solutions. It is leading to a deadly complacency. Red lights should be flashing when world leaders descend on Glasgow in November for the UN’s COP26 climate summit. In September, UN climate chief Patricia Espinosa reported that greenhouse gases are set to rise by 16%
in 2030 compared with levels in 2010. On these trends, she forecasts catastrophic global warming of 2.7°C by the end of the century. Africa has contributed less than 1% to cumulative global carbon emissions, yet it has been hit harder than any continent by climate change. If much of the bargaining at Glasgow is around carbon levels, developing economies risk being sidelined. The lion’s share of the global carbon budget, set at the summit, should go to low-emitting, energy-poor countries. That’sespeciallyrelevant for Africa’s hydrocarbon producers, as Nigeria’s vice-president Yemi Osinbajo argues. Bans or restrictions on public investment in Africa’s fossil fuels, especially natural gas, will stymie the region’s efforts to fix its energy crisis. Finance for adaptation to and mitigation of climate change will be another dividing line at the conference. In 2016, the G20 club of countries agreed to contribute $100bn a year in climate finance to developing economies. Only Germany and the Nordic countries have met their quotas. So far, the US has paid less than a fifth of its promise, although Biden has committed to boosting payments this year. African states will have to negotiate harder. Until now, they have secured less than 5% of the available funding. They should also get backing from the international financial institutions for more innovative funding. South Africa’s deputy finance minister, David Masondo, for example, has proposed a debt-for-climate swap that would allow the Eskom energy utility to raise $10bn to move from coal to renewable energy. Africa’s pioneering mobile-money systems are inspiring new ideas about off-grid and sustainable energy. Speeding up that work will need far greater investment in universities and technical colleges, as well as money from the markets. All of that will count next year when the UN Climate summit is held in Africa.
THEAFRICAREPORT / N N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER OCTOBER NOVEMBER DECEMBER 2021
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#117 / October-November-December 2021 THE AFRICA REPORT 57-BIS, RUE D’AUTEUIL 75016 PARIS – FRANCE TEL: (33) 1 44 30 19 60 FAX: (33) 1 44 30 19 30 www.theafricareport.com
CHAIRMAN AND FOUNDER BÉCHIR BEN YAHMED
PUBLISHER DANIELLE BEN YAHMED publisher@theafricareport.com
AFRICAN
EDITOR IN CHIEF PATRICK SMITH MANAGING EDITOR NICHOLAS NORBROOK editorial@theafricareport.com
BANKS A
To find the full editorial team, all our correspondents and much more on our new digital platform, please visit: www.theafricareport.com
SALES A JUSTE TITRE Tel: +33 (0)9 70 75 81 77 contact-ajt-sifija@ajustetitres.fr
8O 62 NIGERIA FOCUS The Buhari government has not delivered on major reforms for the business sector. And while many mega-projects are going ahead nonetheless, business leaders will have to adjust to the policies of a new resident at Aso Rock come 2023.
FEATURES 26 WIDE ANGLE / Dangote’s big idea We talk to Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote and make an exclusive visit to his $19bn fertiliser and oil refinery plants in Lekki, just outside of Lagos.
36 PROFILE / Ramaphosa’s land of the rising sun South Africa’s president has strengthened his hand in the governing ANC but faces a tough test in 1 November’s local elections due to Covid-19, poor service delivery and the slow pace ofhis reforms.
50 PROFILE / Team Biden A look at the US President’s hand-picked list of diplomats, envoys, spies and soldiers representing Washington in Africa and competing with the likes of China and Russia.
TOP 200 BANKS AND TOP 100 INSURERS Our exclusive ranking of the largest companies in the African financial services sector. They were hit by Covid-19 but are making plans for the days of more growth.
112 CONSTRUCTION DOSSIER Egypt’s new cities, Chinese troubles in DRC and Egyptian cement.
120 TOP 40 DIGITAL LEADERS Our exclusive ranking of digital innovators and power players.
130 MAURITIUS FOCUS Port Louis is looking for a new economic miracle.
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THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
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THE TRUTH ABOUT ECONOMIC LIFE IN NORTHERN NIGERIA The death of economic growth in northern Nigeria is not for the lack of rich economic factors – minerals, materials and men – but of trained minds! [‘Why is President Buhari looking north to Niger?’, TAR online edition, 22 June.] The early 1950s saw the southern Nigerian authorities embark on free education for their children. It was the foundation of knowledge acquisition and development. The development gap between the north and the south was so pronounced that in the 1978 Convocation Chancellor’s address, chief Ọbafemi Awolọwọ, the sage, said: “Stop the south for 50 years, no new schools built, no new admissions into existing schools, the north cannot catch up.” The oil boom of the General Yakubu Gowon era brought false wealth to the nation. Government contracts drove many out of their erstwhile legitimate
RAMAPHOSA WILL NOT CREATE A DECADE OF GROWTH Goolam Ballim is talking nonsense [TAR online edition, 24 June]. All the policy initiatives by Cyril Ramaphosa are directed at benefiting the old establishments that are still in control of the economy. The majority of South Africans are still poor, inequality is huge and unemployment among the majority blacks is over 64%. Cronyism is rifer than before. The reforms in [power] generation are to benefit foreign companies with local political connections. The 51% stake in South African Airways sold to Harith Group was not transparent and was parcelled out to individuals associated with the faction in the ANC that supports Ramaphosa. The new port regulatory authority is set up to weaken Transnet so that it can be primed for privatisation. Kwame Amuah
income sources and made them “emergency contractors”. A host of northerners fell for this. Nothing now originates from the north except if it is fully funded by the south. The burden of northern leadership today is how will they manage their untrained population without the funds from the south, now that the south has realised that the north has dragged them too
far below the height they should have attained? The north can definitely survive without the south, but will the feudal lords allow it? David Adebayọ Alabi
FIGHTING TERRITORIAL INEQUALITIES The painful thing is that whatever he does, President Muhammadu Buhari is wrong: if he does not develop
the north, he’s wrong, and if he develops it in this manner, he is also wrong. Why can’t Nigerian governments deliver a comprehensive approach to territorial inequalities and make a serious long-term plan to get it right? Short-term political mandates are clearly making rulers blind when it comes to the bigger picture and general interest. Sabine
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THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
GALERIE DOMINIQUE FIAT
The Africa Report’s exclusive guide to the quarter ahead features key events from the worlds of politics, business and culture. Find out more about how to plan your October, November & December. Making bets on whether elections will take place as planned in Libya and Somalia? Looking to hit the highlights of the continental cultural calendar in October? Watching in worry as the world negotiates another climate-change deal at COP26? 14
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
Q4
Luanda Biennale: culture for peace
/ OCTOBER
GALERIE DOMINIQUE FIAT
Prince Gyasi, The 12 Powers, 2020: 1-54 Contemporary Art Fair
UNESCO
FESPACO returns to Ouagadougou
CULTURE NIC BOTHMA/EPA/MAXPPP
Arts on the agenda On 4-8 October the Biennale of Luanda highlights arts, culture and heritage as ‘Levers for Building the Africa We Want’. The 1-54 Contemporary Art Fair in London celebrates the continent’s contemporary artists on 14-17 October, and from 16-23 October Ouagadougou welcomes back the pan-African film and TV festival FESPACO.
GOVERNMENTS OF SUDAN AND SOUTH SUDAN A businesslike joint press release announced that on 1 October four border posts would be opened for the first time since South Sudan’s independence in 2010.
APPOINTMENTS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
‘The two parties engaged in extensive talks and candid discussion on all aspects and fields of cooperation’
SEGUN OGUNSANYA On 1 October Ogunsanya takes over as CEO of Indian telco Airtel Africa on the retirement of Raghunath Mandava. 7-9 October The Africa-France summit postponed in 2020 will be held in Montpellier, France. sommetafriquefrance.org 13-14 October The 6th Global Business Forum Africa in Dubai discusses ‘Transformation Through Trade’. globalbusinessforum.com 21-22 October Istanbul hosts the 3rd Turkey-Africa Economic & Business Forum. turkeyafricaforum.org
16
COVID-19 From October, Durban-based Aspen Pharmacare, a manufacturer for Johnson & Johnson, will make Covid-19 vaccines solely for Africa, following an outcry that Africa-made vaccines were being sent to Europe.
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
TAKELOT
EVENTS
MAMONGAE MAHLARE South African e-commerce outfit Takealot has appointed Mahlare as new CEO, and founder and CEO Kim Reid will become chairman (see page 123).
Q4
/ OCTOBER MOZAMBIQUE SADC
President Farmaajo celebrates Independence Day
salve
The Southern African Development Community (SADC) and Rwanda are sending troops to Mozambique to help quell the Islamist rebellion in Cabo Delgado Province. South Africa’s contingent of 1,495 troops are due to stay in the country from 15 July to 15 October.
TANZANIA a vum Ro
Nanngade Mocímboa da Praia
NANGADE Maputo Diiaca
Muedda
TWITTER/M_FARMAAJO
GAS FIELDS
PALMA
MOCIMBOA DA PRAIA
MUEDA MOZAMBIQUE
INDIAN OCEAN
MUIDUMBE
Somalia has settled for October and November 2021 presidential elections after President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed ‘Farmaajo’, tried to extend his rule beyond February without holding a vote. The organising of the delayed national elections has laid bare many tensions. The country’s institutions are weak, insecurity is rife and political trust is low. Abdullahi has been in conflict with Somalia’s federal member states and in September his relationship broke down with Prime Minister Mohamed Hussein Roble, who is in charge of organising the elections. The conflict could again spill over into the security forces, warns the think tank International Crisis Group. Opposition presidential candidates also criticised the government’s road map for elections in late August, providing yet another avenue that could lead to more election delays. Abdullahi had promised to hold a “one man, one vote” election, but insecurity, a lack of resources and a lack of political consensus made that impossible. So, now, elders from clans will pick the delegates responsible for choosing members of parliament (MPs). The MPs and senators then elect a president, in a race that will include three former presidents and Abdullahi.
18
QUISSANGA 50 km
ANCUABE
CABO DELGADO SITUATION
Metuge
Pemba
Major violent incidents Apr.-Sept. 2021
FRANCOIS MORI/AP/SIPA
The cheese stands alone
Macomia MELUCO
STEFAN HEUNIS/AFP
SOMALIA
SOURCE: CABO LIGADO OBSERVATORY
MACOMIA MONTEPUEZ
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
JUSTICE
High-profile trials Courts are in the spotlight in October. Former president of Burkina Faso Blaise Compaoré will be tried for the assassination of former president Thomas Sankara in 1987, when he led a coup d’état against his former associate that resulted in 12 deaths. In Nigeria, the trial for treason of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) separist group, was adjourned to 21 October after he failed to appear before the Federal High Court of Nigeria in July.
AFREXIMBANK
CENTRAL AFRICA REGIONAL OFFICE
24 September 2021
Uniting the Continent Announcing the opening of our Central Africa Regional Office in Yaoundé, Cameroon Friday 24 September 2021, Afreximbank proudly takes up residence in Yaoundé.
Republic of Congo, Chad and Gabon, reflects the expansion of the Bank’s Member States from 37 to 51 since 2015.
By extending further across the continent, the Bank continues to deliver on its pan-African mandate, adding to its presence in Cairo, Kampala, Abuja, Abidjan and Harare.
Our geographical growth reinforces our commitment to financing and promoting intra-extra African trade.
The Central Africa Regional Office, which covers Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Democratic
Welcome to our office at the Headquarters Building of the National Social Insurance Fund (NSIF), Independence Square!
afreximbank.com
/ NOVEMBER TN N
MR
CLIMATE CHANGE
Africa’s COP26 agenda
LB B AL
MU
SE E GA RG
ML
EG
SU
NG
BF
Collector Femi Akinsanya, gallerist Sorella Acosta and art by Evans Mbugua
Lovely in Lagos Art X Lagos, the innovative Nigerian art fair, is returning after an online-only edition last year. It will take place from 4 to 7 November at the Federal Palace Hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos. The fair is known for highlighting up-and-coming artists, having included Hank Willis Thomas, Yinka Shonibare and Portia Zvavahera. After the in-person exhibition, this year’s fair will continue online until 21 November.
20
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
ART X LAGOS 2019
The 26th UN Climate Change Conference GU BE E NI (COP26), takes place in Scotland from 31 GH SL T O I C October to 12 November and is an opporLI CR tunity for African countries to highlight EG climate concerns that will inevitably have wideChange in potential GB spread impact. In the past year, Kenya declared a cereal output, 2080 state of national emergency after a harsh drought Decrease -50% or more and Madagascar entered a climate-induced Decrease 25%-50% famine. Decrease 5%-25% Gabon’s Tanguy Gahouma-Bekale is leading No change ±5% the African group of countries at COP26, and has laid out the challenge: “The continent contributes Increase 5%-25% just 4% of total global greenhouse gas emissions, Increase 25% or more the lowest of any region, yet its socioeconomic Not suitable development is threatened by the climate crisis.” Governments want strong measures to help them adapt to climate change. A projection map built for the UN Environment Programme predicts that Africa will be the hardest-hit continent. African activists are demanding that Africa should be at the centre of talks on climate and energy, before it is too late.
ART
ER
CH
DJ ET
SD
SS
CA
SO UG DC
KY SOURCE: UNEP 2009
Q4
RW BU
RC
TA
AN
MA ZA
MO ZI
MD
BT NA ES SA
LE
500 km
‘You begin to wonder why the Anambra people are more interested in elections at the centre and not the elections in their state’ PAUL JAMES, YIAGA AFRICA The election programme manager for the NGO Yiaga Africa says that turnout for the 6 November governorship elections in Nigeria’s Anambra State is likely to be low, after only 21% turnout in the 2017 elections. He describes Anambra as Nigeria’s worst case of voter apathy in governorship elections.
LUCA SOLA/AFP
African National Congress president Cyril Ramaphosa prepares for the 1 November polls
SOUTH AFRICA
Election day Insiders argue that President Cyril Ramaphosa is more popular than his party, the African National Congress (ANC). He will not be on the ballot in the 1 November municipal polls, which will be a chance for the rightists of the Democratic Alliance and the leftists of the Economic Freedom Fighters to convince voters that they should be entrusted with the job of running more major cities. The argument goes that if they can do a better job of running Johannesburg or Durban, the voting public should then trust them with more responsibility on the national level. If the current trend remains, the ANC will lose more support. What can Ramaphosa do? (See page 36)?
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
APPOINTMENTS
NTSHAVHENI PETER MAPHAHA Major-General Maphaha has been appointed as the new surgeon general of South Africa, commanding the South African Military Health Service as the country continues to battle Covid-19.
BOOKS Two African writers feature in the Booker Prize shortlist of six this year, with a winner due to be announced on 2 November. In The Promise, South Africa’s Damon Galgut uses a family’s story to examine the country’s racial conflicts with a narrator’s eye that is ‘deliciously lethal in its observation of the crash and burn of a white South African family’. Somali-British writer Nadifa Mohamed’s The Fortune Men fictionalises the true story of Mahmood Mattan, a Somali shopkeeper wrongfully convicted and hanged for murder in Cardiff in 1952.
EVENTS 9-12 November Africa Energy Week will welcome players in the oil and gas sectors to Cape Town, South Africa to discuss the future of the sector and promising investments.
aew2021.com
15-21 November The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and its trade opportunities will be in the spotlight at the Intra-Africa Trade Fair in Durban, South Africa.
intraafricantradefair.com
13-20 November Nigeria’s culture lovers will head to the south-west region’s Ekiti State this year for the National Festival of Arts and Culture (NAFEST), celebrating unity in diversity.
ncac.gov.ng
TELECOMS Namibia’s largest telecoms company, MTC, will list on the country’s stock exchange in November. This is set to be the largest listing on the stock exchange since its establishment.
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
21
RAJESH JANTILAL/AFP
Features
26 WIDE ANGLE Dangote’s big idea We talk to Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote and make an exclusive visit to his $19bn fertiliser and oil refinery plants in Lekki, just outside of Lagos.
24
36 PROFILE Ramaphosa’s land of the rising sun South Africa’s president has strengthened his hand in the governing ANC but faces a tough test in 1 November’s local elections due to frustrations with lockdowns, poor service delivery and the slowness of reforms.
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
50 PROFILE Team Biden A look at the US president’s hand-picked list of diplomats, envoys, spies and soldiers representing Washington in Africa and competing with the likes of China and Russia.
ADVERTORIAL
Mauritius on the road to a post-pandemic economic rebound
“Reasons for optimism” Alain Law Min, CEO, MCB Ltd
I
t is an undisputed fact that the business and investment climate around the world has been significantly disrupted by the pandemic. Nevertheless, despite the unstable and uncertain economic environment, the financial services sector in Mauritius has remained strong and resilient. This resilience of our financial services sector gives us every reason to be optimistic about the recovery of our economy. Of course, much will depend on the evolution of the pandemic, the effectiveness of the vaccination campaign (as of 8 September, more than 770,000 of my fellow citizens had received two doses of vaccines) and on the sustained recovery of the tourism sector. The financial services sector is well positioned to provide support to stakeholders on the road to recovery and to contribute to building back Mauritius into a greener and smarter country in the medium term. In addition, the financial services sector has a crucial role to play in attracting, managing, structuring and channeling trade and investment flows, particularly towards Africa. In order to take full advantage of this postpandemic economic rebound, the Mauritian financial services sector can leverage on the country’s intrinsic strengths, linked to its business climate, its investment-grade, compliance with international norms and standards, and its
institutional and governance framework. It is also important to highlight the social and political stability of Mauritius, the investment protection conventions, its connectivity, reliable infrastructure, as well as its skilled and bilingual workforce. With the recent signing - a first in Africa - of free trade agreements with India and China, as well as other agreements such as the African Continental Free Trade Agreement and the country’s membership of regional economic groupings , the Mauritius financial centre is well positioned to become the preferred regional platform for trade and investment in the AsiaAfrica corridor. As the leading bank in Mauritius, MCB can facilitate commercial and trade activities and channel investments in Africa, by capitalising on the expertise acquired in key sectors. Over the years, MCB Group has extended its network regionally and across the continent. Beyond strengthening our correspondent banking relationship - more than a hundred in Africa - the Bank can leverage the Group’s subsidiaries in Madagascar, the Maldives and the Seychelles, its associates in Reunion and Mozambique, while taking advantage of its Representative Offices located in Johannesburg, Nairobi, Paris and Dubai. I remain confident that we have the elements that will enable us to sail through these challenging times.
mcb.mu
AFRICAN
BANKS A Shaken, like the rest of the continental economy, by the Covid-19 crisis, Africa’s big banks have nevertheless shown adaptability during this period, and some are already bouncing back
By PIERRE-OLIVIER ROUAUD
North Africa
Central Africa
West Africa
Southern Africa
East Africa
53 59
NUMBER OF BANKS BY REGION
32
W
Support for SMEs Apart from the repercussions of the crisis on their own activities, banks have been in the front line during this extraordinary period. Many governments have used the banking channel to help cushion the shock by targeting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). From April 2020, many banks on the continent put in place measures to suspend debt payments or restructure loans – for example, KCB (#40) in Kenya. These measures, says one bank manager, were made possible “thanks to the action of the government, the Central Bank and international institutions such as the World Bank and the IMF”. In Côte d’Ivoire, a $300m loan granted by the World Bank in February is to be used to support credit to SMEs through the creation of a dedicated credit guarantee fund. The upper echelons of our ranking show little change. The top 12 banks remain the same, with a few modest ranking adjustments. Once again, only three countries are represented at the top of the ranking, namely Egypt, Morocco and South Africa, including the unchanging leader, Standard Bank Group (#1).
82
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
9 47
TOTAL PROFITS ($bn) 30
21.5
21.6
2015
2016
25.2
24.9
25.2 17.5
20
10
SOURCE: THE AFRICA REPORT RESEARCH
e are living in an unprecedented period. Like the rest of the planet, the African continent has been on an economic roller coaster since the beginning of 2020. At a time when we seem to be approaching the end of the crisis period, the African Development Bank forecasts a growth rate of 3.4% in 2021 and 4.6% in 2022 in sub-Saharan Africa, after growth of just 2.1% last year. In 2020, all the countries on the continent saw their growth slump or even collapse. These poor figures are reflected in the net banking income (NBI) of the 200 banks in our ranking. This key indicator – which measures the difference between revenue and expenditure – plunged, cumulatively, by 14.7% in 2020 to $71.4bn. A historic drop that follows the record high reached in 2019, with a global NBI of $83bn. At the same time, the total balance sheet of these 200 banks is up 12.4% to $1.97trn. This sharp increase, which was rather unexpected during this recessionary period, can be explained, in large part, by the effect of the so-called ‘unconventional’ monetary policies put in place to deal with the crisis. These policies include the provision of large amounts of liquidity by central banks and an often historic cut in key interest rates.
2017
2018
2019
2020
TOTAL ASSETS BREAKDOWN $1.46trn
$1.74trn
$1.61trn
$1.76trn
$1.97trn
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
In terms of relative share, Southern African banks, mainly composed of the 14 South African banks ranked, once again dominate our Top 200 in terms of total balance sheet. However, at 42% of the total, their share has fallen by 4% to the benefit of North African (35% of the total) and West African banks (16%), whose relative weight has increased by 2% each. The share of East African banks has remained stable at 16% of the total. Surprisingly, this year of crisis was not marked by any major bank defaults. This is in part due to the measures to strengthen prudential ratios implemented in recent years. Tiémoko Meyliet Kone, governor of the Banque Centrale des États de l’Afrique de l’Ouest, said that, in 2020, “the average levels of solvency ratios, both for credit institutions and large decentralised financial systems, were higher than the minimum standards in force”. This resilience does not hide the fact that it has been a tough year for the banking sector, with rising risk costs, loan defaults and a decline in activity due to the depression in sectors such as tourism. On average, the profitability of
TOTAL LOANS ($bn) 416
336
367
255
106
200
0
35 10
10
2020
511
455 405
152
50
0
140
131 53 11
39 11
40
11
2020 2019
2018
0
2.58 -21
%
2020 assets ($bn)
Banco Angolano de Invest.
Fidelity Bank Ghana
4.60 -15
1.58 -14
1.00 -19
TOP 10 MOST PROFITABLE BANKS Africa uth So
cco oro Attijariwafa Bank
$539m
21
Firstrand Banking Group
Standard Bank Group
$2.17bn
$2.09bn
National Bank Banque of Egypt Misr
$1.26bn
15
12
12 12 4.5 1
13
4.6 1 2016
5.4 0.9
2018
$889m
5.9
5.4 1.2
$1.2bn
Commercial Int. Bank
14 16
Qatar National Bank Alahli
$560m
29 30
30 17
100
35
35
300 200
0.92
14
13
TOTAL NET INTEREST INCOME BREAKDOWN ($bn)
400
0.93
85
77
2017
2016
500
4.62
212
300
100
1.00
2.57 -43
357
133
2.59
United Equity BCDC United Bank of Orabank Bank for (Ex-Equity Bank for Khartoum Sénégal Africa Bank Africa Côte Burkina Faso Congo) d’Ivoire
Banco Banco de Millennium Banco Fomento Atlântico Sol de Angola (Angola) (Angola)
530
319
200
+73
TOP FIVE FOR ASSET DECLINE
434
440
400
+78
2017
435
462
9 2019
2018
AFRICA’S DEPOSITS ($bn)
500
46
43 10
66
9
2016
600
+102
1.3 2020
2019
2017
our Top 200 banks – net profit divided by NBI – is 24.6%, compared to 30% last year, which is the worst ratio since our ranking began. McKinsey estimates that the return on capital for African banks has been halved to 7%. However, interim results for 2021 often showed a marked recovery in profits, such as with Standard Bank, whose profit for the first half of the year rebounded by 41%. Finally, beyond the ratios, one of the consequences of this crisis has been the acceleration of the digitalisation of banking processes and products. At the Kenyan bank KCB, 98% of transactions in the third quarter of 2020 were carried out online. And the share of mobile payments in the consumer-to-business sector increased from 16% to 44% in one year. This trend has been driven by traditional institutions and networks, but also by new banks and fintechs. The past 18 months has seen record fundraising in this area, including the $200m raised by Wave, a company based in Senegal, which has become the first unicorn in Francophone Africa.
Zenith Guaranty Bank Trust Bank
$734m
$716m
Zenith Bank Nigeria
$572m
Eg
yp
t
g e ria
34
86
97
102
+106
129
241
100
+231
244
260
300
2020 assets ($bn)
Ni
500
%
M
470
400
TOP FIVE FOR ASSET GROWTH
453 424
METHODOLOGY We compiled our ranking of Africa’s Top 200 banks by sending out detailed questionnaires to more than 2,100 financial institutions spread across the continent. Their replies were used to create a systematic ranking of Africa’s top banks based on total asset size. Our list features only the top 200 banks & 100 insurers. All data is communicated to us by the banks or their parent companies. These figures relate to the 2020 financial year. Where that information was unavailable we used 2019 figures, indicated in the rankings by italics. Banks are removed from the list if they do not supply data during two consecutive years. The data was converted to US$ using the exchange rates applicable on 31 December 2020. Numbers in the ‘Rank 2020’ column refer to a bank’s position in The Africa Report’s Top 200 Banks ranking of October 2020.
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
83
‘Access Bank has a vision to be Africa’s gateway to the world.’
1-40 Rank 2021
Rank 2020
Diff.
Total assets
Net interest income
Loans
Deposits
1
1
2
2
South Africa
172 822 496
7 408 482
79 148 301
103 042 788
South Africa
131 453 010
4 288 324
81 281 103
104 734 073
3
4
+1
National Bank of Egypt
Egypt
126 860 000
4
3
-1
Standard Bank of South Africa
South Africa
113 225 433
ND
45 669 600
101 488 000
4 537 977
76 706 759
89 979 882
5
6
+1
Nedbank Group
South Africa
83 795 788
6
5
-1
Absa Bank
South Africa
79 134 860
2 803 844
57 538 564
65 071 974
2 264 144
55 345 583
54 235 140
Bank
Country
0
Standard Bank Group
0
Firstrand Banking Group
7
8
+1
Banque Misr
Egypt
77 877 598
1 815 598
21 273 922
58 851 182
8
7
-1
Attijariwafa Bank
Morocco
63 071 311
2 648 722
37 047 642
39 591 304
9
9
0
Banque Centrale Populaire
Morocco
49 323 307
2 141 248
28 376 952
36 818 507
10
11
+1
Rand Merchant Bank
South Africa
43 172 874
567 332
ND
ND
11
10
-1
Investec Group Ltd
South Africa
37 508 760
968 047
19 603 502
25 533 576
12
12
0
BMCE Bank of Africa
Morocco
36 848 848
1 554 507
21 556 387
22 990 781
13
-
-
Fonds National d’Investissement
Algeria
30 897 812
38 921
22 418 418
ND
14
13
-1
First National Bank of South Africa
South Africa
29 198 892
ND
ND
ND
15
15
0
Banque Extérieure d’Algérie*
Algeria
27 273 407
1 038 423
18 291 908
17 979 805
16
16
0
Commercial International Bank
Egypt
27 138 029
1 596 687
7 584 325
21 640 378
17
14
-3
Banque Nationale d’Algérie
Algeria
25 939 643
661 876
13 130 480
ND
18
17
-1
Ecobank Transnational Inc.
Togo
25 939 473
1 679 765
9 239 948
18 296 952
19
18
-1
Commercial Bank of Ethiopia
Ethiopia
25 504 470
ND
ND
18 764 550
Access Bank Group
Nigeria
22 654 142
686 300
9 424 523
14 583 162
Zenith Bank
Nigeria
22 136 120
782 170
13 937 168
7 253 260
20
19
-1
21
21
0
22
20
-2
Crédit Populaire d’Algérie
Algeria
21 020 588
677 654
12 558 669
12 541 076
23
26
+3
United Bank for Africa Group
Nigeria
20 091 728
1 063 953
6 668 485
15 905 778
24
23
-1
First Bank of Nigeria
Nigeria
20 068 363
656 715
5 787 069
12 775 206
25
22
-3
Access Bank Nigeria
Nigeria
19 901 197
517 497
7 357 266
12 613 463
26
25
-1
Zenith Bank Nigeria
Nigeria
18 596 216
627 394
6 889 870
11 218 453
27
24
-3
Qatar National Bank Alahli
Egypt
18 107 739
910 445
10 463 544
14 835 776
28
28
0
Arab African International Bank
Egypt
14 266 534
350 609
4 145 212
9 775 581
29
29
0
30
32
+2
31
27
-4
MCB Group
Mauritius
13 127 252
541 605
5 944 311
9 637 558
32
33
+1
Guaranty Trust Bank
Nigeria
12 905 545
662 074
4 339 730
9 159 323
33
30
-3
Soc. Gén. Marocaine de Banques
Morocco
12 420 807
554 323
9 880 669
7 469 537
34
31
-3
MCB
Mauritius
11 986 487
475 440
5 594 589
9 167 569
35
35
0
Bank of Africa Group
Senegal
10 730 355
705 679
5 125 276
7 684 224
36
36
0
Capitec Bank
South Africa
10 678 472
1 035 726
39 019 888
8 087 464
37
40
+3
CIH Bank
Morocco
9 943 657
306 379
6 992 413
5 969 447
38
44
+6
Equity Bank Group
Kenya
9 237 349
501 854
4 348 409
6 741 287
39
34
-5
WesBank
South Africa
9 099 972
ND
ND
ND
40
37
-3
KCB Group
Kenya
8 989 071
873 564
5 416 821
6 981 738
Crédit Agricole du Maroc
Morocco
13 768 445
452 995
9 956 691
9 323 654
United Bank for Africa Nigeria
Nigeria
13 592 444
412 972
4 730 719
9 981 013
2020 results in thousands of US dollars; *in italics 2019 results; ND: no data
84
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
CHEVENING
HERBERT WIGWE CEO of Access Bank Group (#20)
It’s probably because we started in the mobile sector that we’re moving up fast in financial services. More than 60 million people worldwide trust in Orange Money. Since its launch in Côte d’Ivoire 13 years ago, Orange Money has secured itself a place as a world leader in the financial services sector and aims to pave the way for financial inclusion in Africa and the Middle East. #OrangeMoney
Orange, limited company (“Société Anonyme”) with a share capital of €10,640,226,396 – Registered office: 111, quai du Président-Roosevelt 92130 – Issy-les-Moulineaux, France. Trade Register No. 380 .129 .866 Nanterre. Exclusive agent in banking and payment services for Orange Bank – Orias n° 13 001 387 (www.orias.fr).
$223 m
In February, National Bank of Kuwait – Egypt (#76) announced an EGP3.5bn increase in issued and paid-up capital.
41-80 Rank 2021 41
Rank 2020
Diff.
39
-2
42
46
+4
43
43
0
44
41
45
53
46
47
47
52
48
-
-
Bank
Country
Kenya Commercial Bank
Kenya
Total assets
Net interest income
8 632 315
607 662
Loans
Deposits
4 982 259
6 323 235
Al Barid Bank
Morocco
7 493 274
231 361
792 131
6 380 325
Atlantic Business International
Côte d’Ivoire
7 434 269
354 399
3 884 338
4 773 555
-3
BMCI
Morocco
7 395 021
338 785
5 646 037
4 953 754
+8
HSBC Bank Egypt
Egypt
7 389 203
407 542
2 303 439
5 722 653
+1
Faisal Islamic Bank of Egypt
Egypt
7 288 927
293 157
ND
ND
+5
Fidelity Bank
Nigeria
7 198 766
271 761
3 461 137
4 434 458
SBM Holdings Ltd
Mauritius
7 115 371
276 847
3 354 701
5 596 686
49
51
+2
Banque Int. Arabe de Tunisie
Tunisia
6 595 149
347 136
4 184 602
6 562 973
50
54
+4
BGFIBank Holding Corp.
Gabon
6 576 790
368 390
4 185 060
4 276 690
51
45
-6
Bank of Alexandria
Egypt
6 484 956
382 039
3 042 357
5 392 248
52
50
-2
Crédit du Maroc
Morocco
6 248 886
249 352
4 584 084
4 921 832
53
55
+2
54
64
+10
55
57
+2
56
-
-
57
56
58
49
Stanbic IBTC Chartered Bank
Nigeria
6 187 464
180 894
1 631 613
2 171 222
Oragroup SA
Togo
6 111 616
290 589
2 963 711
3 971 970
Equity Bank Kenya
Kenya
6 075 613
364 187
2 848 893
4 520 408
West African Development Bank
Togo
5 997 586
145 385
4 051 690
63 591
-1
Union Bank of Nigeria
Nigeria
5 718 578
271 790
1 508 680
2 428 361
-9
Ecobank Nigeria
Nigeria
5 707 318
241 989
2 300 929
3 696 423
59
42
-17
SBM Bank Mauritius
Mauritius
5 656 338
213 815
2 733 140
4 715 029
60
72
+12
Bank Audi Egypt
Egypt
5 429 610
195 822
1 924 021
4 777 210
61
62
+1
First City Monument Bank
Nigeria
5 372 407
334 038
2 147 437
3 281 112
62
59
-3
Arab International Bank*
Egypt
5 359 670
80 342
548 672
3 786 645
63
60
-3
Banque Nationale Agricole
Tunisia
5 321 472
254 575
4 400 026
323 888
64
66
+2
Co-operative Bank of Kenya
Kenya
4 887 395
487 123
2 608 371
3 445 537
65
61
-4
Banque de l’Habitat de Tunisie
Tunisia
4 844 562
206 575
3 728 627
2 616 854
66
107
+41
NCBA Group (ex-CBA)
Kenya
4 804 381
231 989
2 261 331
3 835 691
67
63
-4
Al Baraka Bank Egypt
Egypt
4 800 000
198 600
ND
ND
68
132
+64
69
78
+9
70
48
-22
71
68
-3
72
70
73 74
Bank of Khartoum
Sudan
4 621 989
ND
ND
ND
Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank – Egypt
Egypt
4 615 761
199 066
ND
3 984 991
Banco Angolano de Investimentos
Angola
4 597 950
351 830
554 170
4 084 550
Egyptian Gulf Bank
Egypt
4 572 000
65 515
1 503 000
3 824 000
-2
Société Tunisienne de Banque
Tunisia
4 556 330
229 240
3 350 961
3 104 480
74
+1
Société Générale Côte d’Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire
4 482 755
306 796
3 007 878
3 751 745
69
-5
Banco de Poupança e Crédito*
Angola
4 149 383
(31 469)
85 536
2 952 747
75
76
+1
AfrAsia Bank
Mauritius
3 958 968
94 980
697 914
3 723 246
76
71
-5
National Bank of Kuwait – Egypt
Egypt
3 944 938
167 321
2 189 387
3 153 437
77
82
+5
Housing and Development Bank
Egypt
3 893 821
189 999
1 202 768
2 980 043
78
75
-3
Diamond Trust Bank Kenya
Kenya
3 867 992
228 798
1 898 195
2 713 316
79
80
+1
Attijari Bank
Tunisia
3 812 599
200 685
2 394 951
2 805 521
80
88
+8
Export Development Bank of Egypt
Egypt
3 599 553
26 769
1 982 905
2 806 808
2020 results in thousands of US dollars; *in italics 2019 results; ND: no data
86
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
First National Bank of Botswana (#106) recorded a 23% drop in profit after tax for the six-months ended 31 December 2020.
81-120 Rank 2021
Rank 2020
Diff.
Bank
Country
81
94
+13
Ahli United Bank Egypt
Egypt
3 575 791
82
73
-9
Absa Bank Mauritius
Mauritius
3 526 256
90 243
1 444 799
2 725 172
83
79
-4
Absa Bank Kenya
Kenya
3 450 866
211 857
1 900 581
2 319 672
84
85
+1
Suez Canal Bank
Egypt
3 445 508
98 508
1 127 038
2 812 724
85
84
-1
Sterling Bank
Nigeria
3 390 586
213 200
1 557 718
2 481 679
Amen Bank
Tunisia
3 386 340
147 764
2 215 009
2 162 593
Crédit Agricole Egypt
Egypt
3 291 494
182 567
1 628 407
2 616 600
Land Bank*
South Africa
3 282 841
46 309
2 955 752
ND
86
86
0
87
90
+3
88
77
-11
Total assets
Net interest income ND
Loans
Deposits
1 883 804
ND
89
87
-2
HSBC Mauritius
Mauritius
3 192 345
35 333
1 165 330
2 230 515
90
91
+1
First National Bank of Namibia
Namibia
3 129 551
137 377
2 046 473
2 621 890
91
81
-10
Banco BIC
Angola
3 098 702
395 894
1 000 886
2 033 422
92
95
+3
Banque Atlantique – Côte d’Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire
3 090 257
137 385
1 683 458
2 322 213
93
96
+3
CRDB Bank
Tanzania
3 083 303
101 553
1 689 511
2 319 727
94
97
+3
National Microfinance Bank
Tanzania
3 052 182
243 232
1 766 982
2 289 946
95
104
+9
Ecobank Côte d’Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire
2 996 376
161 794
1 166 427
1 829 937
96
92
-4
Stanbic Holdings
Kenya
2 990 210
116 436
1 786 330
2 365 727
97
89
-8
Société Générale Algérie
Algeria
2 986 059
172 674
1 622 088
2 405 298
98
93
-5
Standard Chartered Bank Kenya
Kenya
2 963 006
242 870
1 105 868
2 334 132
99
118
+19
100
98
-2
Coris Bank International
Burkina Faso
2 926 915
141 716
1 606 581
1 899 144
Bank Windhoek
Namibia
2 923 839
166 742
2 230 566
2 205 133
101
-
-
Stanbic Bank Kenya
Kenya
2 902 736
115 889
1 439 447
1 982 990
102
121
103
115
+19
NSIA Banque Côte d’Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire
2 897 630
133 451
1 799 269
1 768 179
+12
Rawbank
DRC
2 894 197
203 545
788 316
2 217 134
Banque de Dévelop. du Mali
Mali
2 855 043
118 038
1 132 083
1 637 322
I&M Bank
Kenya
2 776 314
184 834
1 499 470
2 141 286
104
145
+41
105
100
-5
106
106
0
First National Bank of Botswana
Botswana
2 763 535
122 542
1 344 867
2 121 851
107
99
-8
Arab Tunisian Bank
Tunisia
2 730 162
96 681
1 889 594
2 202 915
108
114
+6
Ecobank Ghana
Ghana
2 711 764
232 740
846 275
2 006 886
109
102
-7
African Banking Corp. Holdings*
Botswana
2 627 400
231 400
644 100
723 700
110
113
+3
GCB Bank
Ghana
2 627 317
256 494
614 176
1 928 804
111
-
-
Equity BCDC
DRC
2 594 255
88 079
ND
ND
112
83
-29
Banco Millennium Atlântico
Angola
2 577 944
ND
698 597
2 085 424
113
65
-48
Banco de Fomento Angola
Angola
2 572 629
423 055
446 722
1 860 514
114
125
+11
Wema Bank
Nigeria
2 556 542
109 738
939 799
2 100 720
115
101
-14
116
110
-6
117
103
-14
118
122
+4
119
116
-3
120
133
+13
Banco Comercial e de Invest.
Mozambique
2 530 790
201 870
900 317
2 007 550
Banque de Tunisie
Tunisia
2 487 248
140 369
1 806 193
1 517 934
Banco Int. de Moçambique
Mozambique
2 450 340
211 824
635 261
1 837 448
Citibank Nigeria*
Nigeria
2 399 611
57 351
420 807
816 918
Union Internationale de Banques
Tunisia
2 383 331
148 401
2 152 254
1 893 923
Stanbic Bank Uganda
Uganda
2 316 302
132 514
976 955
1 483 239
2020 results in thousands of US dollars; *in italics 2019 results; ND: no data
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
87
‘MSMEs** hold the key to the inclusive and sustainable development of our economy.’ ABENA OSEI-POKU MD of Absa Ghana (#126)
Rank 2021
Rank 2020
Diff.
121
128
+7
Bank
Country
Total assets
Société Ivoirienne de Banque
Côte d’Ivoire
2 289 422
Net interest income
Loans
Deposits
139 253
1 598 584
18 063 172
122
109
-13
Awash International Bank
Ethiopia
2 279 523
ND
1 462 205
1 896 011
123
105
-18
Standard Bank Namibia
Namibia
2 257 151
80 134
1 505 708
1 651 870
124
130
+6
Union National Bank Egypt
Egypt
2 175 899
79 782
781 128
1 591 647
125
140
+15
Stanbic Bank Ghana
Ghana
2 166 290
105 554
743 544
1 643 481
126
119
-7
Absa Ghana
Ghana
2 133 026
164 083
761 844
1 106 161
127
129
+2
CBAO Groupe Attijariwafa Bank
Senegal
2 108 835
158 273
1 472 608
1 765 835
128
112
-16
BNP Paribas El Djazair
Algeria
2 075 056
119 925
1 135 007
1 604 222
129
111
-18
Gulf Bank Algeria
Algeria
2 036 696
119 095
1 275 280
1 534 207
130
143
+13
Société Générale Cameroun
Cameroon
2 008 689
147 236
1 245 790
1 585 820
131
123
-8
132
117
-15
133
124
-9
134
120
-14
135
126
136
127
Afriland First Bank*
Cameroon
1 986 143
110 399
868 789
1 502 290
Banque Al Baraka d’Algérie
Algeria
1 976 988
85 202
ND
ND
Attijariwafa Bank Egypt*
Egypt
1 969 082
ND
1 096 990
1 331 286
African Bank
South Africa
1 955 608
ND
ND
ND
-9
BGFIBank Gabon*
Gabon
1 934 436
108 942
1 268 921
1 578 465
-9
Standard Bank Mozambique
Mozambique
1 895 575
117 877
500 566
1 476 192
137
134
-3
Absa Bank Botswana
Botswana
1 883 400
120 172
1 273 218
1 456 251
138
153
+15
Banque Nat. d’Investissement
Côte d’Ivoire
1 853 859
97 185
915 151
1 648 878
139
147
+8
Bank of Africa – Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
1 847 898
88 576
1 036 487
1 423 371
140
138
-2
Société Générale Sénégal
Senegal
1 808 539
130 317
1 204 862
1 477 264
141
142
+1
Ecobank Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
1 775 954
89 786
718 218
1 392 785
142
152
+10
Standard Bank Mauritius
Mauritius
1 750 166
34 810
187 758
1 604 722
143
154
+11
Banque Zitouna
Tunisia
1 736 116
94 225
1 388 840
1 464 911
144
144
0
Stanbic Bank Botswana
Botswana
1 720 696
62 765
799 267
1 278 144
145
135
-10
Dashen Bank
Ethiopia
1 742 711
119 397
1 073 984
1 365 698
146
139
-7
147
137
-10
148
141
-7
Bank of Africa – Benin
Benin
1 688 221
84 685
752 802
1 146 875
149
131
-18
Fidelity Bank Ghana
Ghana
1 577 396
169 460
415 550
1 107 958
BICICI
Côte d’Ivoire
1 554 692
84 739
900 742
1 338 099
Bank of Baroda Kenya
Kenya
1 513 444
69 388
433 481
1 228 502
Investec Bank South Africa
South Africa
1 482 911
57 245
ND
ND
150
168
+18
151
155
+4
152
-
-
Investec Bank Mauritius
Mauritius
1 698 411
30 808
883 832
986 918
Misr Iran Development Bank*
Egypt
1 692 660
39 234
317 104
1 488 546
153
151
-2
Nedbank Namibia
Namibia
1 476 622
50 520
833 028
843 065
154
165
+11
Bank of Abyssinia
Ethiopia
1 452 415
98 591
939 453
1 215 933
Zenith Bank Ghana
Ghana
1 447 892
178 634
189 191
936 807
Bank One
Mauritius
1 409 816
32 490
509 189
1 185 394
155
167
+12
156
148
-8
157
157
0
Standard Chartered Bank Ghana
Ghana
1 365 465
173 875
288 203
977 834
158
163
+5
Calbank
Ghana
1 347 259
117 070
408 186
707 973
159
160
+1
Cooperative Bank of Oromia
Ethiopia
1 340 031
107 146
748 883
1 147 386
160
156
-4
Natixis Algérie
Algeria
1 332 001
65 583
612 331
1 050 782
2020 results in thousands of US dollars; *in italics 2019 results; ND: no data **micro, small and medium enterprise
88
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
121-160
Centenary Rural Development Bank (#171) lost more than $992,000 since 2019 due to fraud committed by staff members.
161-200 Rank 2021
Rank 2020
Diff.
161
162
+1
Bank
Country
Standard Bank de Angola
Angola
Total assets 1 329 226
Net interest income 77 293
Loans
Deposits
211 867
1 044 418
162
-
-
Orabank Togo
Togo
1 320 527
64 883
677 325
774 612
163
178
+15
Bank of Kigali
Rwanda
1 304 004
102 468
851 100
790 811
164
150
-14
Standard Chartered Bank Botswana
Botswana
1 287 675
63 012
743 153
1 085 069
165
159
-6
Development Bank of Nigeria
Nigeria
1 284 903
55 854
558 540
ND
166
-
-
167
184
+17
168
161
-7
Unity Bank
Nigeria
1 284 173
55 689
527 431
930 766
Bank of Africa – Côte d’Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire
1 283 822
76 317
562 460
852 269
UBCI
Tunisia
1 280 627
89 104
922 037
975 415
Société Générale Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso
1 260 750
64 300
908 240
1 033 788
Stanbic Bank Zambia
Zambia
1 217 822
109 053
303 676
991 589
169
-
-
170
175
+5
171
188
+17
Centenary Rural Development Bank
Uganda
1 214 960
194 538
528 903
846 900
172
182
+10
Trust Merchant Bank
DRC
1 181 000
68 000
401 000
1 037 000
173
171
-2
National Bank of Kenya
Kenya
1 154 259
63 868
505 407
902 987
174
177
+3
SCB Cameroun
Cameroon
1 140 696
100 966
609 155
910 080
175
-
-
Orabank Côte d’Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire
1 125 069
37 490
498 275
576 134
176
-
-
Orabank Mauritanie
Mauritania
1 107 451
65 582
607 584
932 921
177
172
-5
Hibret Bank (Ex-United Bank)*
Ethiopia
1 102 329
ND
673 860
902 057
178
174
-4
Mercantile Bank*
South Africa
1 086 197
66 428
658 603
864 664
179
183
+4
NIB International Bank
Ethiopia
1 084 099
72 163
652 839
859 113
180
185
+5
Bank of Africa – Mali
Mali
1 083 624
60 491
471 941
756 727
181
180
-1
FMB Capital Holdings
Malawi
1 078 580
127 261
409 710
757 729
182
176
-6
183
195
+12
184
-
-
185
186
+1
Prime Bank
Kenya
1 076 106
62 679
327 933
802 524
Bank of Africa – Sénégal
Senegal
1 050 170
56 094
522 800
697 850
Bridge Bank Group
Côte d’Ivoire
1 039 651
52 468
525 053
843 740
Ecobank Bénin
Benin
1 028 754
ND
ND
ND
186
136
-50
Banco Sol
Angola
1 002 461
63 498
309 413
792 994
187
-
-
United Bank for Africa Côte d’Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire
1 000 335
55 348
367 650
706 642
188
-
-
Access Bank Ghana
Ghana
989 533
104 970
176 875
654 792
189
-
-
CFG Bank
Morocco
982 882
31 696
623 010
475 588
190
194
+4
Wegagen Bank
Ethiopia
975 246
112 332
605 061
768 453
191
196
+5
Banco Comercial do Atlântico
Cap-Vert
973 792
37 586
572 473
869 700
192
-
-
Agricultural Development Bank
Ghana
971 742
94 181
325 057
727 819
193
190
-3
Citibank NA Kenya
Kenya
968 730
80 113
337 658
720 658
194
193
-1
Absa Bank Uganda
Uganda
956 711
108 026
352 871
636 579
Devel. Finance Co. of Uganda
Uganda
944 616
82 146
479 335
700 744
Steward Bank*
Zimbabwe
940 866
24 852
55 046
751 330
195
-
-
196
191
-5
197
-
-
United Bank for Africa Cameroun
Cameroon
937 076
61 601
169 990
417 740
198
-
-
SBI Mauritius
Mauritius
936 953
19 198
404 422
510 190
199
-
-
United Bank for Africa Burkina Faso Burkina Faso
929 705
49 838
299 623
662 661
200
-
-
Orabank Sénégal
923 776
38 883
483 152
712 799
Senegal
2020 results in thousands of US dollars; *in italics 2019 results; ND: no data
90
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
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INTERVIEW
Lungisa Fuzile
CEO, Standard Bank of South Africa
‘There is pent-up demand’ The CEO of South Africa’s largest bank by assets is optimistic about the country’s growth prospects thanks to the Covid-19 vaccination roll-out and President Ramaphosa’s reforms. He outlines the bank’s strategy for a sustainable recovery
92
Thumbs up for Godongwana
SANI
Further cause for optimism, according to Fuzile, comes from Ramaphosa’s appointment of Enoch Godongwana as finance minister in August. Analysts such as Jacques Nel at NKC African Economics have argued that Godongwana has shown “statist impulses” in positions he has taken as head of the African National Congress (ANC)’s economic transformation committee. In July 2020, the committee released a discussion document saying that Covid-19 had ‘legitimised a greater and more active role of the state in guiding the economy’. Godongwana has given few early hints of his reform priorities. Fuzile’s view is that the new finance minister understands and E BAS
South African reforms have the potential to lift the country’s rate of growth above historical trend levels, Lungisa Fuzile, CEO of Standard Bank of South Africa (#4), tells The Africa Report. Structural reforms being carried out by President Cyril Ramaphosa mean that the country’s long-term growth rate of 2% is likely to “tick up” over the coming years, says Fuzile, a former director general of the national treasury. This year, the country is poised for a “somewhat strong rebound” to a GDP growth rate of about 4% after the 2020 Covid-19 lockdowns, he adds: “The internal dynamics of the South African economy are positive. There is pent-up demand.” The government has been “diligent” in pursuing reforms, says Fuzile, pointing to Ramaphosa’s decision in June to allow private companies to generate their own power up to 100MW without a licence. That is likely to reduce corporate reliance on state provider Eskom and the risk of load-shedding this entails. The move “opens up the path to investment in renewable energy,” Fuzile says. “That’s huge.” Fuzile argues that the global economic backdrop is likely to remain favourable, despite signs of a
Chinese economic slowdown. Progress towards collective Covid-19 immunity through vaccination means that Europe may be able to compensate for weaker Chinese growth, he says. He is confident that South Africa can catch up with European vaccination rates. Most businesses in the country have reopened, he says, and there is “a bit of a positive mood”. “Supply constraints on Covid-19 vaccines in South Africa now seem a thing of the past.”
PIERR
By DAVID WHITEHOUSE
can navigate complex ANC policy-making processes. “He is not a newcomer to ANC politics or economic policymaking,” Fuzile says, pointing to Godongwana’s role in putting the finances of the Eastern Cape provincial government on a sustainable footing. He describes Godongwana as “very decisive” and “an insider through and through”. Some analysts question whether Ramaphosa’s reforms go far enough, and whether he will be able to sustain the momentum. South Africa is “not moving on the toughest structural reforms,” says Charles Robertson, chief economist at Renaissance Capital in London. South Africa will reach 4% growth this year, Robertson says. He is encouraged by investments in the country by Amazon and Ford this year. But, he argues, 40 years of South African history show that such a growth rate is unlikely to be maintained.
2% to 3% – but that, he adds, is not enough to make people feel better off. Standard Bank Group (#1), which is Africa’s largest bank by assets, has 9.7 million customers in South Africa. It recovered strongly in the first half of 2021, with group headline earnings up 52% on the previous year. The rebound was led by South Africa, where earnings were almost three times higher than in the first half of 2020.
‘Retailers have got space they don’t fully utilise. This will radically change our distribution strategy’
Distribution overhaul
The bank is counting on an overhaul of its distribution strategy to sustain the recovery in South Africa. The bank can now onboard individual customers digitally for its low-cost MyMo accounts. The accounts, which cost R4.95 per month, reward customers with free mobile data. The bank now has more than 1m MyMo accounts. The concept of branches is also being redefined. In July, the bank partnered Demographics don’t add up with the retailer Pick n Pay to open Robertson’s view of growth prospects branches within their stores, starting in emerging markets is based on demography. Large in the Western Cape and Gauteng. Discussions have average family sizes of five or six children, he says, started with “one or two” further retailers to expand are unable to sustain rapid economic growth. That, in the concept, Fuzile says. turn, means that banks are unable to cheaply finance The Pick n Pay branches run according to the retailer’s the private sector or government. trading hours rather than traditional banking times. South Africa, according to Robertson, stands out as They typically use two bankers and an area of six to a country that has long had a promising demographic 10 square metres within an open retail space. That profile but has failed to take advantage of it. Historical represents a huge saving over full branches of between 100 and 300 square metres, Fuzile says. growth rates of 1% to 2% are about 3% below what should The roll-out will lead to a “far more effective distrihave been achieved given low family sizes, he says. Over the long term, he says, South Africa has bution network” and will take up to two years to complete, he says. “This is the been “the biggest underperformer in emerging markets”. future. Retailers have got space they don’t AN EYE FOR fully utilise. This will radically change Robertson argues that this trend is NUMBERS our distribution strategy,” Fuzile says. likely to continue due to high minimum January 1997 Began wages, which hinder job creation. South A further contributing factor to the working at Statistics Africa has “priced a large share of the bank’s recovery was its decision not to South Africa “pull the handbrake” on lending during workforce out of jobs,” but it is politically very hard for Ramaphosa to roll back the the pandemic, unlike some of its competMay 2011 Became legislation, Robertson says. The result, itors. “We kept our doors open,” Fuzile director general of South Africa’s national treasury he says, is that mass unemployment is says. “Home buyers came our way.” likely to continue, adding to political The bank in July offered to buy out the January 2018 Named remaining shares in financial services risks for businesses. Multinationals CEO of Standard Bank of and property holding company Liberty looking to start new factories will find South Africa lower minimum wages and well-educated Holdings, in which it currently holds 54%, workforces in countries like Egypt and to achieve greater scale in insurance and July 2019 Appointed to Vietnam, Robertson says. “Why would asset management. The agreement still the board of directors of you go to South Africa?” His base-case needs regulatory approval, but Fuzile Business Leadership scenario is for South Africa to muddle says “the signs look good” that it will South Africa be secured. along after 2021 with growth rates of
94
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
FINANCE
BLUE PLANET STUDIO/STOCK ADOBE
Will AI risk analysis expand access to credit in Africa? For informal-sector workers and the unbanked, the nascent adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) by banks for credit risk assessment could open up channels to loans By OLIVER NIEBURG
lenders, First National Bank of South Africa (#14), Kenya’s NCBA Group (#66) and Equity Bank Group (#38), and Orange Bank in Côte d’Ivoire have been early adopters.
By analysing new-age mobile and web data, fintechs are starting to expand credit to individuals and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) without a financial Selfies not just for fun footprint. Traditionally, African lenders use credit bureau scores, assessing, for instance, if a customer Singapore-based CredoLab, established in 2016 and has a history of missed credit-card payments. When present in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana, no history exists, they evaluate social demographics: uses mobile metadata to assess credit risk. The fintech is the customer female (in which case they are likelier embeds a mobile software development kit (SDK) into to repay), do they work in a stable job market and can lenders’ banking apps and collects privacy-consented they prove a regular income? But this micro-behavioural data points on Android can exclude those who are unbanked or and iOS. These include the percentage of informally employed. selfies on a customer’s phone, the number Michele Tucci, chief product officer at of games installed, videos created per fintech company CredoLab says: “African month, if a virtual private network is used and even the speed at which they type – all lenders lack data to make good credit of African banking collected once one applies for a loan. decisions, and social demographic data customers cannot procure can bring you only so far.” He estimates Aristide Ouattara, a partner and risk a loan through credit that 70% of African banking customers advisory leader at Deloitte Afrique, says: bureau scores, according have no credit bureau score and are simply “African banks are still setting the minimum to one estimate. rejected by lenders. Indeed, 57% of Africans base of credit-risk management tools and frameworks.” But he says such methods remain unbanked, have a cash-in-hand are the future and expects more banks to join in soon. income or prefer to use debit over credit cards. CredoLab lacks visibility on financial inclusion, but Alternative credit scoring began emerging in the mid-2010s, driven by artificial intelligence (AI) tools says it is likely that for every million applications it has built into Safaricom’s M-Shwari mobile-credit services processed in Africa, 200,000 borrowers were given access in Kenya. to credit, 180,000 of whom were first-time borrowers. Ultimately, however, loan decisions rest with lenders, Home-grown fintechs such as Cape Town-headquartered which have mainly focused on the strongest applicants Jumo and Nigerian start-up KiaKia have since emerged, during the pandemic. while overseas players like CredoLab and US-based To read the full article, see www.theafricareport.com/107432/ Branch are also gaining traction in Africa. Among
70%
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
95
Ade Ayeyemi INTERVIEW
‘Nigeria is a long-term strategic, important market’ The CEO of Ecobank says Nigeria is crucial to the pan-African bank’s fortunes and that the troubles exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis will not hurt its long-term trends Interview by PATRICK SMITH As one of the pioneering pan-African financial institutions, Ecobank (#18) should be enjoying its halcyon days with the region’s economies accelerating plans for integrating their markets and using new technologies to bring banking services to a fast-widening customer base. Ecobank’s headquarters in Lomé, Togo, is a short drive from the newly built secretariat of the African Continental Free Trade Area in Accra, Ghana – the nerve centre of the continent’s single market. But history intervened. First, in the shape of the legacy of management ructions a decade ago, which included some bad investment decisions. Then, weaker commodity prices hit the export economies of Ecobank’s key markets in 2016, to be followed by the shock of the Covid-19 pandemic. Instead of hitting boom time, Ecobank has had to take tough decisions on costs, business direction and shareholder dividends. The current management team, headed by group chief executive Ade Ayeyemi and chairman Alain Nkontchou, has fought back hard, winning a reputation in the markets for prudent liquidity management and contingency plans in a volatile era. The outcome was, Ayeyemi tells The Africa Report, that the group’s results for the last financial year were better than many had expected, with revenues growing by 4%. “We had good growth of our customer deposits, by $2bn,
and we were also able to use that period to increase the acceleration of digital adoption,” says Ayeyemi. Building on its commercial navigation of the pandemic in 2020, the group launched two fundraising operations this year. Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (ETI), the bank’s holding company, floated $350m of sustainable bonds on the London capital market in June. And then, in September, Arise BV, which has a 14% stake in the Ecobank group, invested another $75m into its balance sheet. In May, Fitch affirmed its rating for ETI at B- with a stable outlook, but added a proviso on its concerns about the group’s ‘double leverage’. The bank holding company has used a debt offering to buy a stake in a subsidiary bank.
Prudence, and no dividend Fitch says the ratio is heading in the right direction: ‘We expect ETI’s double leverage to decrease to 140% by end-2022, in line with management guidance, supported by resumed dividends from subsidiaries, stronger performance and continued earnings retention at the bank holding company,’ the agency says. For shareholders, the prudence has a downside: they have not received a dividend for the past four years. That looks set to change next year, according to Fitch. Last year, Ecobank’s corporate and investment activities grew by 34% but commercial bank activities fell by 54% and consumer bank operations were down by 37%. Those trends aren’t an indicator of the direction the bank is taking, argues Ayeyemi: “In economics, there is this thing that you guys call ‘discontinuity’ in the trend. You can’t use 2020 as a basis of a forecast because it’s a one-in-100-years event.” So, rebalancing Ecobank’s operations last year may prove to be a temporary expedient: “We'll find opportunities to enable our corporate and investment bank to also serve customers, serve governments and serve institutions in a
‘YOU CAN’T USE 2020 AS A BASIS FOR A FORECAST BECAUSE IT’S A ONE-IN-100YEARS EVENT‘
96
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
from almost 20,000 to close at 14,000 people,” Ayeyemi says. The other big story for Ecobank is Nigeria – its historical hits and future growth. Chief among the hits was Ecobank’s purchase of Oceanic Bank back in 2011. Some $159m of the one-off $164m goodwill charges on Ecobank’s 2020 accounts relates to its purchase of Oceanic. Apart from Oceanic, there are Ecobank Nigeria (#58)’s non-performing loans. These stood at 19% last year, compared to 3.5% in the CFA franc zone and 8.9% in Central, Southern and Eastern Africa. “We’ve got a challenge in Nigeria,” concedes Ayeyemi, but he says it is more specific than it looks: “That 19% [of non-performing loans] is dominated by two names […]; those two names together are $200m out of the $484m of the non-performing loans.” One is an oil and gas project put on hold by the pandemic; the second is a pipeline that has been delayed by tax liabilities; and a third is to an oil company that has gone into restructuring.
More to Nigeria than oil Take those away, says Ayeyemi, and the Nigerian loan book looks much more sustainable, given the size of the market and business potential. Neither, he insists, are the bad loans an existential threat to the bank or a reason to shift much of its focus away from Nigeria. “Nigeria is a long-term strategic, important market for us. By 2050 Nigeria will be about 400 million people – that will be number four in the world. Second, if you take oil away, there are a lot of other things, whether technology, unicorns, startups of new technology business and fintech.” The N64bn questions for Nigeria, says Ayeyemi, are about A BANK OF policy: “The problem of the counEXPERIENCE try is lack of supply, not lack of demand […]. A supply problem 1988 Joined Citibank Nigeria is easier to solve with your own savings and foreign investment, March 2006 Became whereas investment is looking Citibank’s head for for yield.” Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania Key to the supply of almost anyand Zimbabwe thing in Nigeria is access to energy. And again, for Ayeyemi, there are September 2013 positive signs as the country’s enerAppointed as Citibank’s gy transition takes shape – its new director for sub-Saharan oil and gas laws bringing in more Africa investments, specialising in gas-to1 September 2015 power projects but also more solar Became CEO of Ecobank and wind-energy projects. For all Transnational Inc. those reasons, as well as having a market offering the fourth-largest 2017 Named noncountry customer base in the world executive director of by 2050, Ecobank’s fortunes will be Ecobank Nigeria closely tied to those of Nigeria. GUILHEM ALANDRY/DOCULAB FOR JA
way that allows us to add a cushion [to offset] the decline in some other businesses,” Ayeyemi says. Households are the bedrock of Ecobank’s business, according to the CEO: “The household, in terms of financial leverage, is normally about half of the financial leverage of the overall economy […] whether in mortgages, car loans, auto loans, school loans, student loans – so we need to start being able to provide financing to the households.” The bank is also striving to cut its cost-to-income ratio. That went down to 62.7% last year and the target is 55% by the end of next year. “We’ve trimmed our structural costs, we’ve reduced our branch network from about 1,300 in 2015 to about 680 now […] and we’ve reduced our people
N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
97
HASSAN OUAZZANI FOR JA
Attijariwafa Bank headquarters, Casablanca
MOROCCO
Attijariwafa shows its digital agility Since 2016, the leading Moroccan banking group has accelerated the digitalisation of its operations and services – a major effort that has won the support of its customers By FAHD IRAQI in Casablanca
Bank (#189), are also working on digital technology, AWB has made a fundamental effort to modernise all its business lines, including insurance products. “In this respect, it is ahead of its Moroccan rivals, Banque Centrale Populaire [#9] and BMCE Bank of Africa [#12], and is closing the gap that could separate it on the continent from an international bank such as Société Générale,” says Yoann Lhonneur, director of Devlhon Consulting. In 2020, AWB recorded 12 million customer logins per month, up 60% in one year. It also claims pole position in Morocco for the number of transactions integrating electronic payments, with 39% of this market in 2020.
Five years ago, Attijariwafa Bank (AWB, #8), the leading bank in Morocco, set the tone: the group’s ambition was to position itself as ‘the top customer-centred bank, focused on satisfying the needs of its clients [by] taking advantage Facial recognition of new technologies linked to digitalisation’. With 27 major programmes and 105 projects, its strategic plan AWB’s 100% digital bank, L’bankalik, launched in 2016, illustrates this trend. In a service launched in February, ‘Energies 2020’ put the emphasis on digital technologies. At this time, the bank set up an entity called Wenov “opening an account is now done through a simple selfie, dedicated to digital and entrepreneurial innovation, incorusing the latest technology in facial recognition and electronic signatures,” says a bank executive. porating WeLab, a technological laboratory. In mid-2021, AWB’s management announced that this facility had led Across AWB, four out of five transactions by clients are to collaborations with 120 startups. now carried out via digital channels. The digital strategy, In 2019, the group integrated a digital centre into the using big data, has also made it possible to refine loan information systems department to develop its products applications. Between 2014 and 2020, the number of and processes. This centre brings together around 250 decision-making strategies and scores increased from people and operates on the basis of ‘agile’ methods, a five to 20. The group is currently working to ensure that all subsidiaries can use these tools. multidisciplinary approach and a lighter methodological framework. The idea is for This digitalisation will continue throughthe Moroccan giant, which has more than out the implementation of its 2021-2025 20,000 employees, to become more flexible. strategic plan. The challenge for the group While the bank remains somewhat conis to improve its operational efficiency, while its branch network and the increase servative, and some of its smaller competIncrease in customer in operating costs impact its results. logins at AWB in 2020 itors, such as CIH Bank (#37) and CFG
60%
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THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
#fintech #digitization #financialinclusion
https://tagpay.fr/en/
FINTECH
Three’s a crowd in the credit-card crunch China’s UnionPay is giving the US payments giants Visa and Mastercard a run for their money in Africa; fighting back, the two are investing in new financial services, from purchasing fintechs to buying stakes in telecoms firms By QUENTIN VELLUET
“Fintechs that want to expand geographically can quickly be held back if they do not have the support of investment funds or industrial operators,” says Lhonneur. “Players like Visa and Mastercard have enormous advantages because they have a network role that allows synergies and offers international growth prospects.” According to data provided by Devlhon, Visa and Mastercard processed about €23.5bn ($26.8bn) in transactions on the Absa Bank network in 2019, compared with €395m ($450m) for the rest of their competitors (UnionPay, American Express, Discover, JCB, etc.).
Issuing bank cards in Africa, where cash and mobile money are king, is a strange sort of bet. But, for the past 15 years, the two United States payment giants Visa and Mastercard have been fighting a battle for supremacy in the payments space, which the Covid-19 pandemic and the accelerated development of fintech have only intensified. In recent years, their duel has been shaken up by the arrival on the continent of China’s UnionPay, which has been targeting the position of Mastercard. Since 2018, the Chinese heavyweight, which was launched back in 2002, has been keen to increase its The number of countries activity in African markets and has been on the continent where active in seeking partnerships with local China’s UnionPay has financial institutions. established a presence Following on from its 2018 deal with South Africa’s Standard Bank and Nigerian fintech giant Interswitch, the company, which brings together 175 Chinese banking players, announced an alliance with PostBank in Uganda in November 2020, The amount Mastercard and with Bank of Africa in Morocco in invested in Airtel Money May 2021. UnionPay is present in Africa to help it gain market in more than 40 countries. intelligence
40
$100m
Visa’s African advantage In contrast with Mastercard, Visa still has some leeway, holding a leading position in almost all its markets, especially in the Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine zone, where Mastercard has only a small presence (7% market share in 2018) compared to Visa’s 47% hold on the market. “In Southern Africa and the Eastern region, the game is becoming more balanced”, says Yoann Lhonneur, of the Paris-based strategy consulting firm Devlhon Consulting. Like Visa, Mastercard has several trump cards to play to develop its services quickly. First, the US group, whose 2021 turnover is expected to be close to $19bn, can use its financial power to buy companies that threaten its development or can expand its customer base.
100 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
Platform purchases
Mastercard’s March 2019 investment of $300m in Network International is the perfect example. The operation enabled Visa’s rival to develop a partnership with this specialist in payment solutions in the Middle East for the development of services in Africa. The partnership resulted in the creation of a digital platform in early 2021 that allows merchants to accept different types of payments, from USSD (a protocol that allows data to be sent and received without internet access) to QR codes, mobile money or NFC (contactless phone). In April, Mastercard, led since January by Michael Miebach, invested $100m in Airtel Money. There are several advantages for a card provider to invest in mobile money, as the head of a pan-African operator explains: “As a financial partner, it is easier for them to know what these companies are planning to do and thus become privileged partners. It is also a way for them to diversify, taking into account the threat that mobile money represents to their core business [payment by card].” The company that can kill costs will win. “The problem in Africa are the margins being made,” says Jean Sideris, a former employee of Visa and Mastercard, now at consulting firm Edgar, Dunn & Co. “For an average transaction of around $3 on the continent – compared to around $50 in Africa and Europe – the charges and commissions of the current operators are too high.”
INSURERS Our exclusive ranking and analysis of the continent’s largest insurance companies shows how the sector continues to grow but faces challenges from Covid-19 and the low take-up of insurance products in Africa
By PIERRE-OLIVIER ROUAUD and HONORÉ BANDA
F
asten your seatbelts! For the African insurance world, 2020 was a year like no other, marked by the Covid-19 pandemic and a halt to the rapid expansion seen in recent years. Prior to the coronavirus crisis, McKinsey consultants predicted compound annual growth rates for the sector of around 7% between 2020 and 2025. Once the dust settles after the crisis there is every likelihood of a return to rapid growth. Africa remains the least insured region of the world. In 2019, the insurance penetration rate (insurance premiums compared to gross domestic product) stood at 2.78%, compared to a global average of 7.2%. McKinsey is bullish about the continent’s insurance potential. In a December 2020 report, it said: ‘The pandemic is profoundly affecting both lives and livelihoods, and consumers are cutting back on discretionary expenditure
— including insurance — in the face of income and market volatility. However, this impact is expected to delay rather than alter the pattern and potential of future growth. And in some cases, the crisis may accelerate existing trends — notably the shift toward digital and remote channels, which has the potential to offer new opportunities to both insurers and consumers.’ The McKinsey report sets out what has been helping the insurance market to grow in Africa: ‘Africa’s insurance sector is being driven primarily by economic growth rather than deepening market penetration. And where penetration is occurring, it is mostly accompanied by structural reforms. Market liberalisation and deregulation, the enforcement of compulsoty insurance, increased access through wider distribution, public-private partnerships and regulation to support innovation and access have all been shown to build consumer trust and develop more resilient insurance industries with better-protected populations in comparible markets.’
Ambition and resilience Our exclusive ranking of Africa’s Top 100 insurers shows the resilience of the major players. At $50.11bn, their cumulative turnover was up 0.3% compared to 2019, when it had jumped by 19.4%. While the sector is now re-establishing its dynamism, most markets experienced a recession or at least a sharp slowdown last year. This was the case in Morocco, where the sector’s turnover grew by a meagre 2% to Dh45.8bn ($5.1bn), according to the Autorité de Contrôle des Assurances et de la Prévoyance Sociale – a rate two to three times lower than in previous years. Morocco is in second place in our ranking, with 15 companies included in the Top 100.
32
North Africa Central Africa West Africa East Africa Southern Africa
TOP FIVE FOR REVENUE GROWTH %
25
+62 15 1
2020 revenue ($m)
+46
+41
+38
2 226
103
292
57
+29 80
SPA (Morocco)
WAICA Re (Sierra Leone)
SCR (Morocco)
Swan (Mauritius)
COMAR (Tunisia)
27
TOP FIVE FOR REVENUE DECLINE %
TOTAL REVENUE & PROFITS 2019
2020
Revenue
Profits
$49.98bn
$4.71bn
$50.11bn
$2.02bn
108 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
2020 revenue ($m)
SUNU AV CI (Côte d’Ivoire)
Trustco GH (Namibia)
Leadway (Nigeria)
SONAS (DRC)
CNMA (Algeria)
103
42
140
-69
-44
98 -18
-58
52 -24
SOURCE: THE AFRICA REPORT RESEARCH
NUMBER OF INSURERS BY REGION
In South Africa, which is by far the continent’s largest market, insurance revenue fell by about 8% in 2020. The sector is not expected to return to pre-Covid levels until 2024. The 15 South African companies represented in our rankings still account for 66.1% of total premiums and South African insurers hold nine of the top 10 places. There is one Moroccan group in the top 10, Saham (#8) but it is also now part of the South Africa’s Sanlam (#1). Sanlam, meanwhile, is not dialling back on its ambitions. The group has declared a goal of having 50 million customers by 2025. Announcing a partnership with South Africa-based telecoms giant MTN in September 2021, Sanlam CEO Paul Hanratty said in a statement: ‘We anticipate strong long-term growth in mobile financial services, and insurance and investments are no exception to this.’
In Nigeria, the market plunged 15.3% last year, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. AIICO Insurance (#39) is Nigeria’s largest retail insurer, working in the life and non-life sectors. In September, AIICO’s CEO, Babatunde Fajemirokun, said that diversification is a priority: “The firm has revised its vision and the board has given the management the approval to look beyond Nigeria’s insurance space and explore opportunities across sub-Saharan Africa. Despite [the fact] that Nigeria has one of the lowest penetration rates in Africa, we still believe that, in terms of our business models to improve the level of diversification, is important to look outside.” Egypt, meanwhile, stands out for its resilience. Its economy has weathered the crisis well and this is reflected in the insurance market, which jumped 16% in fiscal year 2020/2021, according to the Financial Regulatory Authority.
Nigeria’s AIICO is looking for opportunities to diversify across sub-Saharan Africa
‘We are bullish in the long run about Africa. The demographics are fantastic.’ PAUL HANRATTY CEO of Sanlam (#1)
Rank 2021
Profits
2020/2019 Profit change
9 065
248
-14%
4 944
-365
- 4%
South Africa
4 691
1 230
-1%
Discovery Health
South Africa
3 396
12
11%
5
Liberty Holdings
South Africa
2 675
-183
-6%
6
Santam
South Africa
2 611
44
2%
7
Momentum Metropolitan Holdings
South Africa
2 271
20
-13%
8
Sanlam Pan Africa (Ex-Saham Finances)
Morocco
2 226
ND
62%
9
Rand Merchant Investment Holdings
South Africa
1 104
130
3%
10
Munich Reinsurance Co. of Africa
South Africa
957
ND
23%
11
Wafa Assurance
Morocco
930
45
2%
12
Compagnie d’Assurances et de Réassurances
Tunisia
854
18
21%
13
African Reinsurance Corp.
Nigeria
805
56
-5%
14
Royale Marocaine d’Assurance
Morocco
763
ND
9%
15
Mutuelle Attamine Chaabi
Morocco
643
ND
22%
16
Hollard Insurance
South Africa
599
26
-1%
17
Saham Assurance Maroc
Morocco
569
16
2%
18
Atlanta Sanad Assurance (Ex-Atlanta Assurances)
Morocco
551
49
11%
19
Axa Assurance Maroc
Morocco
541
ND
13%
20
Metropolitan Life
South Africa
483
ND
-4%
21
Sunu Group
Côte d’Ivoire
373
13
14%
22
Avbob Industries
South Africa
323
1
9%
23
Société Centrale de Réassurance
Morocco
292
31
41%
24
Jubilee Holdings
Kenya
271
37
-5%
25
Botswana Insurance Holdings
Botswana
264
49
9%
26
Britam Holdings
Kenya
262
-106
-3%
27
Compagnie Centrale de Réassurance
Algeria
254
31
-15%
28
La Marocaine Vie
Morocco
240
7
3%
29
Société Nationale d’Assurances
Algeria
219
17
-10%
30
Zep-Re (PTA Reinsurance)
Kenya
208
17
1%
31
The Rand Mutual Assurance Co.
South Africa
202
153
-6%
32
Mutuelle Centrale Marocaine d’Assurance
Morocco
200
ND
26%
33
Swan Group
Mauritius
198
19
-7%
34
Britam Kenya
Kenya
191
ND
-13%
35
Jubilee Insurance Kenya
Kenya
183
-17,35
-4%
36
Compagnie Algérienne des Assurances Transports
Algeria
187
21
-9%
37
Allianz Assurances Maroc
Morocco
175
ND
14%
Insurer name
Country
Revenue
1
Sanlam
South Africa
2
Old Mutual Life Assurance Co.
South Africa
3
Indequity Group
4
38
Kenya Reinsurance Corp.
Kenya
169
27
-2%
39
AIICO Insurance
Nigeria
162
13
18%
40
CIC Insurance Group
Kenya
155
-3
-11%
41
Custodian & Allied Insurance
Nigeria
152
33
17%
42
Clientele Life Assurance Co.
South Africa
152
22
-6%
43
UAP Holdings
Kenya
150
-12
-5%
44
Conduit Capital
South Africa
144
-45
-1%
45
Leadway Assurance Co.
Nigeria
140
30
-44%
46
Mauritius Union Assurance Co.
Mauritius
138
9
13%
47
Enterprise Group
Ghana
134
25
19%
48
Société Tunisienne d’Assurances et de Réassurances
Tunisia
133
6
0%
49
Continental Reinsurance Co.*
Nigeria
131
16
40%
50
African Trade Insurance Agency
Kenya
126
39
12%
2020 results in millions of US dollars; *in italics 2019 results; ND: no data
110 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
SANLAM
1-50
Axa Mansard (#51) in Nigeria recorded a 22% rise in gross premiums in the first half of 2021, compared to the first half of 2020.
37.2 bn
51-100 Rank 2021
Profits
2020/2019 Profit change
Insurer name
Country
Revenue
51
Axa Mansard Insurance
Nigeria
124
12
4%
52
Mutuelle Agricole Marocaine d’Assurance
Morocco
121
ND
14%
53
Jubilee Insurance Uganda
Uganda
121
7
22%
54
Compagnie Algérienne d’Assurance et de Réassurance
Algeria
113
9
-12%
55
Swan Life
Mauritius
112
14
-10%
56
Nico Holdings
Malawi
110
24
7%
57
Compagnie d’Assurances des Hydrocarbures
Algeria
106
5
-1%
58
CICA-RE*
Togo
105
9
14%
59
Sunu Assurances Vie Côte d’Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire
103
6
-69%
60
WAICA Reinsurance Corp. – Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
103
13
46%
61
Sanlam Côte d’Ivoire (Ex-Saham Assurances Côte d’Ivoire)
Côte d’Ivoire
98
ND
1%
62
Caisse Nationale de Mutualité Agricole
Algeria
98
14
-18%
63
APA Insurance
Kenya
91
5
-2%
64
State Insurance Co. of Mauritius
Mauritius
82
15
-7%
65
Compagnie Internationale d’Assurance et de Réassurance*
Algeria
82
ND
-2%
66
Old Mutual Malawi
Malawi
81
22
-3%
67
Cie Méditerranéenne d’Assurances et de Réassurances
Tunisia
80
9
29%
68
Sanlam General Insurance Kenya
Kenya
79
-1
16%
69
Compagnie d’Assurances Transports
Morocco
77
ND
8%
70
Groupe des Assurances de Tunisie
Tunisia
70
6
13%
71
Santam Namibia
Namibia
66
ND
-11%
72
NSIA Vie Côte d’Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire
66
ND
27%
73
Suez Canal Insurance
Egypt
63
3
1%
74
Assurances Maghrebia
Tunisia
69
ND
12%
75
Maroc Assistance Internationale
Morocco
62
ND
6%
76
Liberty Kenya
Kenya
61
6
-7%
77
Tanzania Reinsurance Co.
Tanzania
60
3
-1%
78
Société Tunisienne de Réassurance
Tunisia
58
5
1%
79
NEM Insurance
Nigeria
58
13
6%
80
Swan Insurance Co.
Mauritius
57
7
38%
81
Swaziland Royal Insurance Corp.*
Swaziland
56
11
22% -24%
82
Societe Nationale d’Assurances – DRC
DRC
52
-2
83
Mutual Benefits Assurance
Nigeria
52
13
2%
84
Allianz Assurances Vie Côte d’Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire
52
ND
14%
85
Mutuelle D'assurances des Transporteurs Unis
Morocco
51
ND
20%
86
Allianz Assurances Côte d’Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire
50
ND
16%
87
Mutuelle Assurances de l’Enseignement
Tunisia
50
1
16%
88
Groupe Sonam Assurances
Senegal
49
ND
1%
89
Sanlam Assurance Vie Côte d’Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire
49
-2
12%
90
BH Assurances
Tunisia
47
4
13%
91
Cornerstone Insurance
Nigeria
46
6
28%
92
Salama Assurances Algérie*
Algeria
45
ND
4%
93
Ghana Reinsurance Co.*
Ghana
44
5
5%
94
Fidelidade Angola
Angola
43
2
-5%
95
Kenindia Assurance Co.*
Kenya
42
-2
27%
96
Trustco Group Holdings
Namibia
42
-23
-58%
97
SIC Insurance Co.
Ghana
41
1
11%
98
Axa Assurances Côte d’Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire
41
ND
18%
99
NSIA Assurances Côte d’Ivoire
Côte d’Ivoire
40
ND
20%
Coronation Insurance (Ex-Wapic Insurance)
Nigeria
40
3
-5%
100
2020 results in millions of US dollars; *in italics 2019 results; ND: no data
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
111
TOP 40 DIGITAL LEADERS IN AFRICA
TOP 40 DIGITAL
LEADERS IN AFRICA Tech builds the future for Africa’s youth, providing jobs, opportunities and access to knowledgee. As A the th ecosystem geets ever more crowde ed with talent, The Africa A Report launcches its first ranking of the digital econo omy’s power playerrs
120 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
121
TOP 40 DIGITAL LEADERS IN AFRICA
education. Even governments have started to use them in the hope of bridging the gap between citizens and administrations. Alongside MTN, Vodacom, Orange and others, thousands of startups, investors, incubators, fibre-optic network operators, data centres and influencers are enriching the ecosystem. This profusion of players has inspired The Africa Report’s first ranking of the top 40 personalities who make up digital Africa, with the goal of updating it every year. To select 40 from this crowded field was an ambitious undertaking. It includes telecom operators with hundreds of millions of subscribers, the heads of specialised investment funds and founders of startups that have become unicorns, but also African representatives of the FAANG (Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix and Google) giants and finally some public decision-makers.
By JULIEN CLEMENÇOT and HONORÉ BANDA
I
If there is one industry that has continued to exceed expectations in Africa, it is telecommunications. Today, the continent has more than 500 million mobile phone users. That is almost one in two Africans. It is far beyond what Rwandan-Congolese businessman Miko Rwayitare, creator of the continent’s first mobile network, Telecel International, could have imagined in 1987. At the time, the entrepreneur was only targeting a few thousand of the happy few, and his phones, which could not even send an SMS, were still the size of a brick. In three decades, operators have gone through global crises without a shudder. After the development of 2G networks, then 3G and 4G networks, submarine cables and mobile-mobile payments, the continent has taken a new technological leap – that of the platform economy. It first appeared in the field of e-commerce, which has been active for a few years now, to be joined by financial services, energy, agriculture, health and
Innovation, funding, leadership
$1.1bn Amount raised by African tech startups in the first 8 months of 2021, according to Disrupt Africa
122 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
For our ranking, we used a series of criteria ranging from innovation capacity to financial strength and the size of funds raised, as well as leadership and notoriety, with the main focus on events that occurred during the period 2020 to 2021. This ranking cannot claim to be an objective truth, but it presents our vision of a revolution that we have followed since its beginnings. We could have immediately placed the top 10 telecom operators, without whom very little would be possible, but we also wanted to highlight the adoption of e-commerce, the explosion of fintechs, particularly in Nigeria, the growing interest in energy-access services, the development of data centres, and the first truly significant projects from the FAANG companies in Africa, particularly in infrastructure. Finally, we note that women are still in the minority in this ecosystem, and particularly in the top roles. However, they are far from being absent. In addition to the personalities in our ranking, we would like to mention Odunayo Eweniyi, co-founder of the startup Piggyvest, Coura Carine Sene, who runs Wave mobile money in Senegal, Fatoumata Ba, whose fund, Janngo Capital has pledged €60m ($70m) for women-led startups, and Andreata Muforo, partner of the investment company TLcom. We hope to see more women in the elite of the sector in 2022, so watch this space.
RANKING
The shapers of Africa’s digital landscape The Africa Report’s exclusive ranking of the infrastructure builders, telco CEOs, startup founders, e-retailers and policymakers creating the continent’s digital future Infrastructure
Rank 2021 1 2&3
Startup
Telecom
Finance
Policy
E-commerce
Media
Name
Nationality
Position
Organisation
Strive Masiyiwa
Zimbabwe/UK
Founder & Executive Chairman
Econet Paystack
Shola Akinlade & Ezra Olubi
Nigeria
Co-founders & CEO
Olugbenga Agboola
Nigeria
Co-founder & CEO
Flutterwave
K. Bekker & P. Mahanyele-Dabengwa
South Africa
Chairman & CEO for South Africa
Naspers
7
Ashraf Sabry
Egypt
Founder & CEO
Fawry
8
Mitchell Elegbe
Nigeria
Founder & CEO
Interswitch
4 5&6
9
Ralph Mupita
Zimbabwe
President & CEO
MTN Group
10
Peter Ndegwa
Kenya
CEO
Safaricom Vodacom
11
Shameel Joosub
South Africa
Group CEO
12
Alioune Ndiaye
Senegal
CEO
Orange Middle East & Africa
13
Issam ‘Sam’ Darwish
USA
Chairman & Group CEO
IHS Towers
14
Michael David Francois
USA
Network Infrastructure Strategy TL – EMEA
15
Nunu Ntshingila
South Africa
Regional Director for Africa
16
Mostafa Kandil
Egypt
Founder & CEO
SWVL Technologies
17
Michael Seibel
USA
Managing Director & Group Partner
Y Combinator
18
Tayo Oviosu
Nigeria
Founder & Group CEO
Paga
19 & 20 Jérémy Hodara & Sacha Poignonnec 21
France
Co-founders & Co-CEOs
Jumia
Ismail Ahmed
Somaliland
Founder and Chairman
WorldRemit
22
Jan Hnizdo
South Africa
CEO
Teraco Data Environments
23
Moustapha Cissé
Senegal
Director of the Africa AI Center, Accra
24
Ryosuke Yamawaki
Japan
General Partner
Kepple Africa Ventures
25
Zhu Zhaojiang
China
President
Transsion Holdings
26
President Paul Kagame
Rwanda
President
Rwanda
27 & 28 Tope Lawani & Babatunde Soyoye
Nigeria
Co-founders
Helios Investment Partners
29
Sim Shagaya
Nigeria
Founder & CEO/former CEO
uLesson, Konga.com, E-Motion
30
Jason Njoku
Nigeria
Co-founder & CEO
iROKOtv
31
Iyinoluwa Aboyeji
Nigeria
Co-founder
Future Africa, Andela, Flutterwave
32
Zhou Yahui
China
Founder & CEO
OPay
33
Moulay Hafid Elalamy
Morocco
Founder/Minister of Industry, Trade & Tech.
Saham Group/Govt. of Morocco
34
Akshay Grover
India
Acting Group CEO
Cellulant
35
Jesse Moore
USA
Co-founder and CEO
M-Kopa
36
Kim Reid
South Africa
Founder & Group Chairman
Takealot
37
Ory Okolloh
Kenya
Director of Investments
Omidyar Network
38
Funke Opeke
Nigeria
CEO
Main One Cable Company
39
Rebecca Enonchong
Cameroon
Founder & CEO
AppsTech
40
Harvesh Kumar Seegolam
Mauritius
Governor
Bank of Mauritius
THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
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AFRICAN N LEADERSHIP Insight, conviction and a touch of idealism sent these pioneers where others feared to tread. Now they are the power players in Africa’s digital space, and it’s only the beginning By JAYSIM HANSPAL
Africa is often associated with the ‘digital divide’, as the internet and its manifold benefits remain out of reach for the majority of the continent’s population – only 28.2% of Africans had access to the internet in 2019, according to the International Telecommunication Union’s estimate. At the same time, the continent is a breeding ground for innovation and homegrown initiatives that have changed Africa’s digital landscape, paving the way for economic transformation. As the need for social distancing brought by Covid-19 continues to affect families and businesses alike, the digital sector has provided solutions. From cashless transactions to digital health technology and online educational tools, African pioneers have invested in innovations that both predated and will outlast the Covid-19 pandemic. After studying the impact of technological change in Nigeria, Senegal and Tanzania the World Bank is categorical about the power of digital tools: ‘One key takeaway is that the more digital access Africans have, the more likely they are to reduce poverty over time,’ the Bank says in the introduction to its findings. As the young population increases, there will be new opportunities for African businesses. Digital innovation could greatly improve the economic growth of many countries, creating jobs, helping to alleviating poverty and improving quality of life. Africa is famous for its leapfrogging – for example, from no phone to cell phone. But education systems will also need to keep up if young Africans are to be the inventors of a new future rather than simply the users of technology developed elsewhere. A focus on the following trailblazers raises important questions about the future of an expanding digital sector on the continent, and how it will deal with issues like data privacy, promoting inclusive access, and the dominance of a handful of players who create popular platforms that quickly become ubiquitous.
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HALDEN KROG/BLOOMBERG/GETTY
DIGITAL #5&6
Koos Bekker SAVVY CHOOSER
N
aspers is the Africa’s biggest digital media powerhouse. It owes its financial firepower to a single investment that skyrocketed in value. In May 2001, Naspers bought 46.5% of Chinese internet company Tencent. The man in charge at the time was Koos Bekker. Bekker is a big name in South Africa. After founding one of the first two pay-television services outside of the US, he took his success to Naspers as CEO in 1997. Naspers, or De Nasionale Pers
Phuti MahanyeleDabengwa
D
UTT EAN H
ON/BL
OOMB
ERG/G
#5&6
ETTY
IN TECH WE TRUST
Beperkt as it was originally called, was started in 1915 as a publishing company. It now has a value of $78bn and has expanded its activities to include online retail and venture-capital investments. Before joining Naspers, Bekker founded M-Net/Multichoice pay-television service, which now operates in 48 African countries. He was also a founding director of South Africa-based telecoms giant MTN, now the largest mobile network operatator in Africa.
Public apology Naspers owns Africa’s largest publishing company, Media 24, and South Africa’s largest online retailer, Takealot.com. Naspers has not always been on the side of progress, however, and made a public apology in 2015 for funding the National Party during apartheid. The same year Bekker sold 70% of his shares in Naspers and became chairman of the board. Tencent is now in Beijing’s crosshairs, as policymakers seek
to regulate the country’s tech giants. Such a move may encourage Naspers to focus on other opportunities for growth. In 2019 it listed its global internet investment business unit Prosus on the Euronext bourse, retaining a 56.92% stake. Naspers had already sold some of its stake in Tencent for $10bn in 2018 to have funds for other ventures, including a stake in Russia’s Mail.ru Group. “E-commerce is not a get-richquick business. […] You need a good amount of patience,” Bekker told media. On 31 August, Naspers announced a deal for its Prosus company to buy Indian payment platform Billdesk for $4.7bn. This marks an increased interest in the Indian market, with more than $9bn spent since 2014. The Billdesk deal is its biggest investment so far. Moving on from its ignominious past, Naspers in 2019 created the role of CEO for South Africa and appointed the influential entrepreneur Phuti Mahanyele-Dabengwa.
A child of Soweto who was 23 when South Africa gained its freedom, she was CEO of Shanduka Group, founded by South Africa’s current president, Cyril Ramaphosa, before forming her own black economic empowerment (BEE) investment company, Sigma Capital, in 2015.
Inclusivity inc. Mahanyele-Dabengwa is a big believer in the power of technology, telling reporters: “We need greater connectivity for inclusivity. […] Technology can transform our economies, create jobs and boost growth and make possible the transition to a more sustainable and equitable society.” She says the focus on “healthcare connectivity” and e-commerce is a priority for Naspers moving forward, with an eye on Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. As South Africa CEO, Mahanyele-Dabengwa also oversees Naspers Labs, a social impact organisation with the aim of creating tech jobs for the unemployed in South Africa, and Naspers Foundry, a $1bn investment vehicle for early tech companies. Seven startups, including Aerobotics, WhereIsMyTransport, and Food Supply Network have received R400m ($28 million) in funding. In July, the Foundry backed digital insurance advice firm Ctrl $2.3m and in early August it invested $8.3 million in the artificial intelligence insurtech startup Naked.
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TOP 40 DIGITAL LEADERS IN AFRICA
Mitchell Elegbe CHAMPION OF CASHLESS COMMERCE
M
RICCARDO SAVI/GETTY FOR CONCORDIA SUMMIT
itchell Elegbe founded Interswitch in 2002, after his first encounter with an ATM swallowed his card in Scotland. An alumnus of the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) Global CEO Programme and the African Leadership Institute’s Archbishop Tutu Fellowship Programme, he now wants to help transform African economies and push towards a cashless marketplace. Interswitch is a Nigerian digital payments company and one of the continent’s first unicorns. In 2010, shareholders decided to sell
two-thirds of the company to raise more funding. Nine years later, after a $200m cash injection from Visa, it was valued at $1bn. Its planned initial public offering in London, though, has repeatedly been delayed and does not yet have a launch date.
Pan-African designs Interswitch’s main market is Nigeria, but it is set on becoming a pan-African digital payments platform. This year, it is expanding its Quickteller Business ‘seamless payment solution’ to businesses in East and West Africa.
Z
imbabwe’s Strive Masiyiwa is a digital innovator through the Econet Group, both in Zimbabwe and beyond through Econet Wireless, and through Liquid Intelligent Technologies, which has built fibre-optic networks in 13 African countries. Liquid is also helping to experiment with new technologies in partnership with Alphabet, the parent company of Google. With Project Taara it is testing ways to send data through space, which
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With Elegbe at the helm, Interswitch has grown at an incredible rate; now it provides fintech and digital services such as technology integration to governments, banks and high-net-worth individuals. In alliance with the Cross River State government, Interswitch developed software responsible for digitalising all government departments. Elegbe says that digital tools need to be rolled out in many other sectors to help African economies to grow, calling for Nigeria’s national ID programme, which was launched in 2014, to
had a successful test this year in Brazzaville and Kinshasa. In September, Afreximbank’s Fund for Export Development in Africa announced an investment in Liquid Intelligent Technologies solutions, adding to the list of big international backers of Masiyiwa’s digital business ventures. Billionaire Masiyiwa has also backed other initiatives in the digital space, with the EcoCash mobile-money platform becoming so important to the Zimbabwean economy that the authoritarian government of Emmerson Mnangagwa sought to weaken its role. Econet Wireless became the first African telecoms company to buy a bank in order to carry out its fintech plans. The government looks set to continue
#8 services, helping local startups to grow and develop. Digital payments will not cover the payment landscape overnight, so Interswitch has about 11,000 ATMs across different banks.
Funding innovation
those markets already exists. But in West, Central and East Africa, there is still room for development, so we felt we should begin to spread our tentacles across these regions,” he said. Through its credit card company, Verve, Interswitch has supplied more than two million cards and has 190,000 businesses using its
using regulations and the threat of lawsuits to manage the activities of the mobile-money sector more tightly. And so, with the Zimbabwean business environment tied to the current political power structure, London-based Masiyiwa is keeping a more continental view.
electric ride-hail taxi network in 2020. But Kwese TV, the satellite TV broadcaster, failed to become a profitable business and closed down in 2019. Masiyiwa’s influence extends far beyond the continent, as he sits on the board for numerous international companies including Netflix, Unilever and Stanford University. His foundation has provided scholarships to more than 250,000 young Africans. During the early days of the Covid-19 pandemic, he and other business leaders used their negotiating
skills to set up the not-for-profit Africa Medical Supplies Platform, enabling African governments to purchase items such as personal protective equipment online. As the African Union’s coronavirus envoy, Masiyiwa has been fighting the continent’s corner: “We want to make clear to all suppliers […] if you want a long-term future with us now, you produce from Africa.” Meanwhile, his daughter Elizabeth now runs Akello, a subsidiary of Econet, which aims to use tech to improve African education systems.
TAIWO OYEMADE
create digital identities and make them easily verifiable. Fintech expansion in Africa can have varying levels of success. In a 2013 interview with Forbes, Elegbe said that Interswitch may not be successful everywhere. “Southern Africa is quite developed and so chances are that any payment infrastructure you need to have in
Interswitch also wants to put its money into African fintech. It launched a $10m venture arm in 2015, which the following year acquired Vanso, a Nigerian fintech security company. At TechCrunch Disrupt in 2020, Elegbe said: “We’ll be very selective in the companies we invest in. They should be companies that Interswitch clearly as an entity can add value to. They should be companies that help accelerate growth by virtue of what we do and the customers that we have.”
Data and determination Africa Data Centres is building more digital infrastructure in Africa. Last year, Masiwiya’s project received $300m from the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation to fund its expansion into other parts of Africa. Masiyiwa and Econet have got involved in a slew of other startup activities. Distributed Power Africa works on off-grid renewable energy and signed a partnership with EDF in March. Vaya Africa launched an
Strive Masiyiwa CONNECTING PEOPLE
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Ralph Mupita
investors seem to like Mupita’s style: the group’s shares were up 124% between late August and the start of 2021 – and this despite MTN’s suspension of its dividend payment in order to pay off debt and deal with the uncertainties of the Covid-19 pandemic. Under Mupita’s leadership, the value of transactions on its MoMo mobile-money platform rose 88% year-on-year in the first half of 2021. At the end of 2020, MTN had 46.4 million mobile-money users in its subscriber base.
AT THE TOP OF A TELCO TITAN
Focus on Nigeria MTN is planning to get out o of operations outside of its main focus in Africa, meaning g that Nigeria is likely to be cen ntre stage for the telco. But th he relationship with the authorities in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, have been fraughtt over the years and there are no signs of a long-terrm rapprochement. Mupita became CEO of o the group on 1 Septembe er 2020, taking over from the long-serving Rob Shuter. His background is as a high-level manager rather than a telecoms specialist, having studied civil engineering and
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business administration. He spent more than a decade at financial services group Old Mutual before joining MTN as its chief financial officer in 2016. MTN has some 277 million customers in 21 markets in Africa and the Middle East. It plans to invest big in technology, for example, with plans to roll out 5G networks in Ghana next year. And
Spinning off operations
CHRIS RATCLIFFE/BLOOMBERG/GETTY
T
he continent’s top telco is gearing up to get leaner and meaner for its next transformation. Under Zimbabwean CEO Ralph Mupita, South Africa-based MTN Group is betting on mobile money, fintech innovations and building platforms to expand its bottom line. In Nigeria, the group’s biggest market, data revenue is soon set to overpass voice revenue for the first time. While the Nigerian auth ii thorities are stonewalling MTN’s attempts a to get a full mobile-money licence l – potentially of one of the last great growth markets on the co ontinent – this was not enough to pe ersuade Mupita and his team to be et big on a licence in Ethiopia th his year, after they lost out in a first round to Safaricom. Mupita say ys he is planning to continue a divestment programme worth about $1.6bn over the next three to five e years.
Other investor-friendly options h table bl for f MTN include on the M d listing its fibre spinning off and ney businesses. and mobile-mon dia this year that Mupita told med “within the core [connectivity business] there are a some infrastructure assets and platforms that is putting we believe the market m e on”. little to no value Mupita wants to use MTN as a ng other actors into platform to brin a. In September, the digital arena MTN and South African insurance a partnergiant Sanlam signed s ship allowing the sale of the financial services company’s products and investments to mobile customers. Mupita said in a media release that the alliance is focused on ‘driving financial inclusion across the continent and providing customers with c insurance and nvestment products in taiilored to the eds of the African nee conssumer’.
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RICHARD DREW/AP/SIPA
#32
Zhou Yahui PLANTING THE SEEDS OF A DIGITAL HARVEST
A
mobile-money platform also known for its motorcycle-based delivery service in Lagos, Nigeria, OPay has become one of Africa’s rare unicorns (a startup with a valuation of more than $1bn). The company’s value is estimated at $2bn, after it raised $400m during an August fundraising round that included Japan’s SoftBank. Opay is part owned by Chinese billionaire Zhou Yahui, founder of Kunlun Tech Co, a web game developer in China. OPay is an important company to watch as it is also part of the widening and deepening interest of Chinese players in Africa’s digital space, from telecoms provider StarTimes, to mobile manufacturer Transsion and telecoms big players like Huawei and ZTE. Zhou controls OPay through Opera, a Norwegian company based in the Cayman Islands. He got his start in the digital sphere by creating a website for sharing animations while at Tsinghua
University and then went on to work for social media platform Renren. He is chairman of the Board and co-CEO of Opera, which runs a mobile browser and news service.
Eyes only for OPay
In January, Opera, which is listed on the NASDAQ stock exchange, denied claims by short-seller Hindenburg Research that its lending practices breach Google’s Play Store rules. Opera Mini, Opera’s browser, says it has more than 100 million users and is rolling out new chat programmes and other services. Company statistics show 25 million active users for the Opera News service. Zhou is no longer in a leadership role at Beijing Kunlun and is focusing his attention on the development of OPay, where he is the CEO, with eyes on the wider African market. Through agent banking, OPay gives individuals the ability to act as a payment processor, handling $3bn a month,
according to the company. It also claims to operate 80% of mobile banking transfers in Nigeria, a market that has big potential but has been further behind in developing mobile money than the likes of continental leader Kenya. The mobile payment service and consumer platform incorporates banking but also allows users to order food and groceries. OPay developed the bike-hailing app ORide, the loan application OKash and food-ordering platform OFood in the Nigerian market. The app market in many African countries is spurring big competition from global players like US-based Uber, Spain’s Glovo and Africa-focused e-retailer Jumia. After raising the $400m in August, Zhou told media: “We want to be the power that helps emerging markets reach a faster economic development.” Summing up his long-term view, he told Chinese media outlet Xinhua: “The utilisation of internet data will speed up the establishment of a credit system, improve the overall commercial credit and tech ecosystem, thus optimising the investment environment in the long run. […] It may be a long and difficult process, but we will ultimately reap a harvest.”
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Looking for a new economic miracle 130 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
FOCUS
By KERVIN VICTOR in Port Louis Mauritius is often cited as a symbol of resilience in Africa, having defied the odds and entered the select club of high-income countries in 2019. For the first time, Mauritius’s gross national income per capita exceeded the $12,535 threshold needed to be included in this elite group. The island country was hardly able to savour its success before it was hit by a series of challenges. Cases of Covid-19 were first detected in Mauritius on 18 March 2020. The government reacted swiftly, closing its border to international arrivals and imposing a strict lockdown to limit infection. Consequently, the country recorded a decline in its GDP of 15% last year. Financial services and information and communications technology (ICT) were the only sectors to record growth, at 4.9% and 1% respectively. The tourism sector declined by 80%.
Back to square one
Port Louis looks forward to buzzing again after borders open on 1 October
With tourism deflated, regulators on the prowl and reeling from a series of procurement scandals, the government of Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth needs new growth strategies to win back respect
This crisis has underlined Mauritius’s economic dependence on tourism. The absence of tourists caused a sharp decline in foreign exchange and fiscal revenues, curbing the country’s public spending capacity. Earnings from the tourism industry fell from Rs63bn ($1.5bn) in 2019 to Rs17.7bn in 2020. Back again in the high-middleincome trap, Mauritius also saw its local currency, the rupee, nosedive. In its economic statement published in September 2021, the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry reported that the rupee had depreciated 22.7% against the US dollar between January 2020 and 30 June 2021. ‘The outcome has been destructive to the competitiveness of businesses in Mauritius, coupled with an exorbitant hike in freight charges,’ the report said.
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MAURITIUS FOCUS / Looking for a new economic miracle
The country further recorded an 8.4% GDP contraction in the first quarter of 2021, but the IMF projects that Mauritius’s GDP will grow by 5% in 2021, assuming some recovery in the tourism industry. Mauritius opens its borders for fully vaccinated travellers on 1 October. Despite the resilience shown by the financial sector, which accounted for 13% of GDP in 2020, Mauritius remains under the international spotlight due to concerns about tax justice and governance. The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an international intergovernmental organisation, placed the country on its grey list in February 2020, after identifying deficiencies in Mauritius’ anti-money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes. The European Union included Mauritius on its black list in October 2020.
More rigour required Since then, the government has gone to great lengths to fill the gaps identified by the FATF. In June 2021, the FATF said the country had made progress. A visit by FATF officers took place on 13-15 September. The FATF will make its decision on whether to remove Mauritius from the grey list in its plenary in October. As the country emerges from the pandemic, the government led by the Mauritian Alliance is far from enjoying the unanimous support of the population. The alliance is composed of the Militant Socialist Movement (MSM) and its allies, Plateforme Militante and Muvman Liberater. Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth and his government face
FABIEN DUBESSAY/MCB ST JEAN
The financial sector is working to improve its image
sharp criticism that they have mismanaged the country and failed to fight corruption and fraud. Thousands of Mauritians have taken to the streets over the past 12 months to demand the government’s resignation. Among their grievances are the poor management of the worst ecological disaster the country has ever faced – the 1,000tn oil spill caused by a Japanese bulk carrier MV Wakashio, which ran aground in July 2020. Citizens are also riled by the sharp depreciation of the rupee, which is affecting Mauritians’ purchasing power, by the fuel tax introduced to finance the purchase of anti-Covid-19 vaccines, and by revelations concerning the granting of public contracts to those close to the government. ‘The whole public procurement process, including current legal provisions and procedures, must be reviewed with a view to strengthening accountability and transparency and ensuring that emergency procurement does not become a fertile ground for the commission of financial abuses
and malpractices at the expense of taxpayers,’ recommended the National Audit Office in its report for the financial year 2019-20. Another ‘bombshell dossier’ arrived with the discovery in a sugar cane field at Moka on 18 October 2020 of the partially burnt body of MSM activist Soopramanien Kistnen. It forced the minister of commerce, Yogida Sawmynaden, to resign in February 2021. Before his death, Kistnen was about to contact the anti-corruption agency about bidding practices at state-owned corporations.
Death of a whistleblower A police investigation ascribed the death to suicide. It took the perseverance of a panel of lawyers, including former justice minister Rama Valayden, for a judicial inquiry to be launched. The revelatory hearings, worthy of a thriller TV series, ended in June but the magistrate’s conclusions have not been made public. Kistnen’s was merely the start of a troubling series of untimely deaths. Pravin Kanakiah, a procurement
3,899 MAURITIUS
776 1980
1985
132 THEAFRICAREPORT / N° 117 / OCTOBER-NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2021
2,506
1990
1995
officer at the finance ministry, was found dead on 11 December 2020. A few days later the body of Sarah Boitieux, a civil servant working at the prime minister’s office, was found under suspicious circumstances. In January 2021, Deven Vythelingum, secretary of the State Trading Corporation, died after facing intense stress at work. Ivan Collendavelloo, the number two of the government and leader of Muvman Liberater, was dismissed as energy minister in June 2020 following a report from the African Development Bank that he was involved in corruption around the Saint Louis power plant. The government is also facing a series of petitions aimed at invalidating the 2019 election of several of its members, including that of Prime Minister Jugnauth.
Economic reset One of the government’s lifelines to try to regain popularity is to boost the economy by supporting businesses, limiting defaults and preserving jobs. Unemployment reached 9.8% at the end of June. Then public debt reached 95% of GDP and inflation hit 5.9%. Mauritian economist Kevin Teeroovengadum tells The Africa Report that Mauritius is struggling to develop new sectors. “We have been depending on the same economic pillars for over 15 years, and we haven’t been able to
Mauritius will invest Rs1bn in biotechnology, including vaccine production launch anything new. […] For more than a decade now, we have been talking about the emergence of the blue economy [the exploitation, preservation and regeneration of the marine environment], but, in reality, we are still struggling to launch this sector.” Kee Chong Li Kwong Wing, a former chairman of the State Bank of Mauritius Holdings, says the administration needs to push the reset button: “The government should show capacity and competence to shift to a new economic model and the mindset to face a changing global economic environment post-pandemic.” Political scientist Avinaash Munohur argues: “The emergence of China as a superpower capable of offering a new vision of globalisation different from the American hegemony, and the immense challenges linked to climate change are two major axes that will redefine our public policies and
the relationship of our country to its region.” In his presentation of the 2021/2022 budget in June, finance minister Renganaden Padayachy announced a new three-fold strategy: giving an exceptional boost to investment, creating a new economic architecture and restoring confidence. The government has earmarked Rs65bn for infrastructure projects. It plans to generate 60% of Mauritius’s energy from green sources and to phase out coal by 2030. It also wants to seize opportunities created by the pandemic. The government announced an investment of Rs1bn in biotechnology for the production of vaccines and other pharmaceutical products, accompanied by fiscal incentives. Padayachy said that the government is following the philosophy of the late Anerood Jugnauth, who died on 3 June, aged 91. Jugnauth is often cited as the father of the Mauritian economic miracle. It was under his prime ministership that the country diversified its economy, with new sectors such as financial services, the free port and ICT, among others. It may take a new miracle for Mauritius to emerge from its current quagmire.
MAURITIUS’S GDP PER CAPITA ROLLER COASTER Current US$
11,208 9,197
12
10,153 9,260
10
8,030 8,622
5,388
7,318
UPPER MIDDLE-INCOME COUNTRIES
8 5 4
SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA
2 0 2000
2005
2010
2015
2020
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INTERVIEW
Ken Poonoosamy
‘We believe that we can position ourselves as a manufacturing hub’ The CEO of the Economic Development Board (EDB) talks with The Africa Report about Mauritius’s strategies and policies to attract foreign investment Interview by KERVIN VICTOR in Port-Louis
Ken Poonoosamy thinks of the Economic Development Board (EDB) as Mauritius’s “think tank” generating ideas to attract investment and develop the country’s export potential. He has been a top official in the field since heading up the Board of Investment – the EDB’s precursor – in 2011. What is the role of the EDB in promoting investment? Acting under the aegis of the ministry of finance, economic planning and development, the EDB’s main role is to attract and retain productive investments, and to amplify their development benefits through policies. The relevance of synchronising investment and export policies is becoming globally more and more evident. Whilst acting as the apex body for both trade and investment initiatives, the EDB also undertakes research and planning to analyse national and global economic, technological and social trends, and to advise on, or shape, strategies and policies accordingly. With the Covid-19 pandemic hitting Mauritius, how do you
expect FDI inflows to evolve in the coming years? Mauritius witnessed decades of continuous positive GDP growth before the Covid-19 pandemic struck us. During this current crisis, private-sector investment remains a key driver of growth and all efforts are being deployed by the government and the EDB to facilitate projects within a reasonable time frame to give an exceptional boost to investment. For the year 2021, we project a relatively modest recovery in FDI inflows due to persistent uncertainty on access to vaccines by many countries, the emergence of virus mutations and the revival of economic sectors. What new measures are there to encourage investors? Major reforms are being carried out to further improve our business
‘THE FREE-TRADE AGREEMENTS CREATE HUGE OPPORTUNITIES IN VAST MARKETS’
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climate. One of our new products is the Premium Investor Certificate, which allows companies investing at least $12m to benefit from negotiable incentives. Also, a high-level committee chaired by the Prime Minister will be meeting on a regular basis to facilitate the obtention of permits, licences and approvals of investment projects. What about visas and residency? [We have advocated] a series of amendments to make it easier for investors and professionals to move to Mauritius combining the ‘work, live and play’ concept. Occupation-permit holders are now given a 10-year permit outright, while permanent residence permits are given for 20 years. We have also alleviated the burden on retired non-citizens: a foreigner aged 50 or above can now retire to Mauritius with just $1,500 monthly to benefit from a 10-year residence permit. [Plus, a new] long-stay premium travel visa allows digital nomads and other individuals to work and live in Mauritius for a year. Which are the Mauritian economic sectors offering the best prospects for foreign investors? In collaboration with our parent ministry, we have set the foundation for Mauritius to propel itself towards its next phase of development, which will be driven by innovation and [sustainability] while embracing inclusive growth.
EDB
The EDB also participated in implementing the strategy for the financial services sector, which relates, first, to enhancing the status of our financial centre, and, second, to deepening its service offerings and being compliant on anti-money laundering/combating the financing of terrorism matters. Our free-trade zone is also developing as one of the most attractive zones in the region and it has been ranked ninth out of 61 zones globally by fDi Intelligence. Other prominent sectors we are promoting include the ‘blue economy’, where we are maximising the potential of the fisheries sector, and the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry. Mauritius recently signed freetrade agreements with India and China and also plans to take advantage of growth on the African continent. How do you balance all those relationships? The Comprehensive Economic Cooperation and Partnership Agreement (CECPA) with India, the China free-trade agreement and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) create huge opportunities in vast new markets that could provide demand for more complex Mauritian products. We believe that these agreements are complementary and Mauritius has a prime role in making sure that the benefits are larger than the sum of their parts. The EDB has already initiated […] capacity-building of our exporters to make the most of these opportunities. India and China are amongst the two major trading partners of Mauritius. With the entry into force of the AfCFTA, we strongly believe that we can position ourselves as a manufacturing hub as well as a jurisdiction of choice for Indian and Chinese businesses to service Mauritius. For the full interview, visit theafricareport.com
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MAFH
Networking at an MAFH event
FINTECH
Play and profit inside the sandbox Innovation is the focus of the government’s recent regulations in the financial services space, with the goal of making Mauritius a hub for African fintech By KERVIN VICTOR in Port-Louis Many in Mauritius’s finance sector and government hope that fintech innovations will help boost the critical sector as Covid-19 hammers tourism. Michal Szymanski, CEO of the Mauritius Africa Fintech Hub (MAFH), says fintech in Mauritius is just in its early stages. The MAFH was launched in 2018 to help Mauritius develop the sector. “The role is to be the fintech ecosystem facilitator. Our role is to identify the gaps that exist in the ecosystem […]. We’ve identified four key areas that we feel, based on the feedback of the main stakeholders, that we need to tackle to be able to be a truly premier fintech hub in Africa. Those are: regulations, skills, innovation and deal flow,” says Szymanski.
Paul Perrier, CEO of Fundkiss, the first peer-to-peer lending platform in the country, agrees with a lot of what Szymanski has to say. “The Mauritius Fintech sector is in an emerging but very promising state. […] Over the past three years, Mauritius has witnessed the rise of an ecosystem, with incubators such as Turbine and La Plage Factory, and structured business angel investors like Mo Angels. Public institutions, such as the Mauritius Research and Innovation Council, are also
$20m
The amount raised by Finclusion Group from Lendable, which it will deploy in Southern and East Africa
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supporting innovation through grants,” Perrier says. Recent fintech activity in Mauritus includes the August launch of ARIE Finance’s digital ‘know your customer’ service for companies in financial services. Mauritius is also a source of investment for African start-ups, with Port Louis-based Finclusion Group investing in South Africa’s HelloHR payroll startup in September. Mauritius has sought to promote innovation through the creation of a ‘regulatory sandbox’ that allows companies to operate and experiment while the authorities decide on how fintech activities should be regulated. The central bank, the Bank of Mauritius, and the country’s Financial Services Commission issue sandbox licences for banking and non-banking financial services.
Digital rupee The island nation also plans to have its own digital currency. The central bank has announced the introduction of a ‘digital rupee’ on a pilot basis. The latest amendments to the banking legislation already provide provisions for the launching of a digital currency. Perrier says: “There is also a strong political will to develop the fintech sector in Mauritius as we need to reinvent our financial industry. Slowly but surely, things are taking shape.” For MFAH’s Szymanski, the fintech sector is critical to the long-term success of the Mauritian financial sector. “The country has had an amazing 30 years as an international financial centre. The revolution of fintech or technology in the financial sector that has happened over the past decade or so has not only [produced] a rise in new jobs, new opportunities. We have also found, across the globe, that all the small jurisdictions are maintaining competitive advantage with the use of technology.”
LAST WORD
WHAT THE PAPERS DON’T SAY AFRICA NO FILTER
MOKY MAKURA Executive director, www.AfricaNoFilter.org
By the end of 2021, 13 African countries will have held presidential elections. That’s 13 different opportunities for global media to paint the same picture of rigged and, in some cases, violent elections. This has become the single story of democracy in Africa. Is it an African election if it’s not unfair, violent or marred by chaos and social-media shutdown? We won’t have long to wait for an answer because in the next three months Somalia, Cabo Verde, Gambia and Libya will hold their elections. Elections in Benin, Chad, Djibouti, Niger, Congo, São Tomé e Príncipe, South Sudan and Uganda have done little to change the narrative, so it was with great interest that I kept my eyes on Zambia’s August elections for the country’s next president. It was a race with two frontrunners: President Edgar Lungu, who had been in office since 2015, and businessman Hakainde Hichilema, who won 59% of the votes. Contrary to the dominant narrative in the reporting, Zambia is not new to democratic elections. Hichilema himself has participated in five previous elections and will be the country’s seventh president since the late Kenneth Kaunda, Zambia’s first president, who served from 1964 to 1991 and died earlier this year.
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With a free and fair election now under Zambia’s belt, and with the benefit of hindsight, many of the media headlines and predictions appear almost laughable. For The Economist, a free and fair election was not on the horizon. ‘Zambia’s election is crucial,’ the magazine reported some days before election day, ‘but it’s not a fair fight. Hakainde Hichilema deserves to be elected, but the world should prepare for a rigged vote.’ The Economist wasn’t the only news platform that predicted chaos. ‘Zambians head to the polls, but hopes of a free election are slim,’ said South Africa’s Business Day Live. CAJ News Africa declared the country had hit ‘rock bottom’ after Lungu initially rejected election results. However, Lungu went on to accept the results and subsequently congratulated the new president in a handover of power that was free from violence. Reports that didn’t suggest that the elections would be unfair said poverty, economic woes and Covid-19 underscored the polls. Zambia’s economy is indeed in recession due to Covid-19, but this is a global issue that also created a public health and economic crisis in the US. The Zambian election had its expected clichés. The internet was shut down, but the law prevailed when the High Court ruled that access should be fully restored. There were accusations and counteraccusations of violence against members of the campaigning parties, and even a military presence on election day. Still, there was a high turnout at polling stations. It showed that Zambians had faith in the democratic system working, as evidenced by the peaceful handover of power in previous general elections. This stereotypical framing of African elections is problematic and feeds a narrative about this continent that many Africans and their leaders are trying to move away from. Elections in Africa are not a test for democracy; they are proof that democracy and institutions meant to uphold the system work, despite the typical politicking of elections everywhere.
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