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.

Source: Vanguard

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