The Banker
Magazine, a
publication
of Financial Times of
London has ranked
Zenith Bank, First Bank,
Guaranty Trust Bank,
Access Bank, United
Bank for Africa, Fidelity
Bank, First City
Monument Bank and
Skye Bank among the
global top 1000 banks. The banks also made
the list of top 25 banks in Africa.
However, the Nigerian banks did not rank
among the top five in Africa. Zenith which is
the most capitalised bank in the country
ranks 7th as against its last year’s 6th
position in the continent. First Bank and GT
Bank made the 8th and 11th positions
respectively.
The top three banks in Africa are all from
South Africa. Standard Bank Group topped
the Africa chart with a capital base of
$9.842 billion and is in the 112th position
globally. The second is the FirstRand Bank
Holdings, South Africa with a capital base
of $8.471 billion. The Needbank Group
Limited, also of South Africa, came third in
the top 25 banks in Africa with a capital of
$5.123 billion.
The Banker in its benchmarking of the top
1000 global bank said that Zenith Bank PLC
had, as at 2011 financial year, a total tier
one capital of $2.398 billion as against the
$2.405 billion of last year. This makes Zenith
Bank the biggest bank in Nigeria, the 7th in
Africa and the 322nd in the world. It is
followed by the first generation bank, First
Bank, with a total of $2.262 billion
shareholders’ stake in the bank known as
tier one capital in 2011. First Bank occupies
the 2nd position in the Nigerian banking
sector, 8th in Africa and 338th in the globe.
The third highly capitalized bank in Nigeria
by the standard of Bank of International
Settlement (BIS) is GTBank with a tier one
capital of $1.478 billion for the 2011
financial year. By tier one capital ranking,
it is Nigeria’s 3rd biggest, 11th in Africa and
455th in the world. Access Bank followed
closely with a capital of $1.054 billion
making it the 4th largest bank in Nigeria,
15th in Africa and 541st universally.
UBA is the 5th largest bank in Nigeria, 16th
in Africa and 563rd in the world. Fidelity
takes position as the 6th biggest bank in
Nigeria, 17th in Africa and 618th in the
world while First City Monument Bank
becomes the 7th largest bank in Nigeria,
22nd in Africa and 710th in the world.
Bank of America which occupies the first
position in the global ranking has a capital
base of $163.626 billion. It is followed closely
by JPMorgan Chase with a capital of
$142.450 billion. The third position is
occupied by HSBC, a British bank with a
capital base of $133.179 billion. China has
three banks in the top ten positions while
Japan has just one.
The Banker magazine’s endorsement has
become an instrument that central banks
and bankers seek after as a marketing tool.