First Bank unveils Africa’s 10 largest banks at end-June 2026
Mahynar Mohamed
Translated & Edited by Aya Elsayed
First Bank’s ranking of Africa’s 10 largest banks at end-June 2026 revealed a strong concentration across three major markets, with South Africa accounting for five banks, followed by Morocco with three and Egypt with two.
South Africa’s dominance extended beyond its numerical representation, with four of its banks ranking among the top five, underscoring the country’s substantial weight in African banking.
Standard Bank Group of South Africa topped the ranking, with total assets of approximately USD 232.27bn at end-June 2026.
National Bank of Egypt (NBE) ranked second, with assets of USD 197.98bn, followed by South Africa’s FirstRand Group in third place, with assets of approximately USD 167.66bn.
Absa Group, also based in South Africa, secured fourth place, with total assets of USD 139.23bn, while Nedbank Group ranked fifth, with assets of USD 98.21bn at end-June 2026.
The figures highlight the concentration of assets at the top of the ranking. The five largest banks accounted for approximately 69 per cent of the combined assets of the top 10, totalling USD 835.35bn, underscoring the considerable share held by a relatively small number of leading institutions.
Further down the ranking, Banque Misr secured sixth place, with total assets of approximately USD 94.98bn at end-June 2026.
Morocco’s Attijariwafa Bank ranked seventh, with assets of USD 87.94bn, followed by South Africa’s Investec Bank in eighth place, with assets of USD 84.66bn.
Morocco’s Banque Centrale Populaire ranked ninth, with assets of USD 60.62bn, while Bank of Africa, also based in Morocco, completed the top 10, with assets of USD 51.03bn at end-June 2026.
Together, the 10 banks held approximately USD 1.21tn in assets at end-June 2026. However, the distribution was far from even, with the largest share concentrated among the leading institutions and asset sizes declining progressively towards the lower half of the ranking.
The ranking therefore highlights not only the geographical concentration of Africa’s largest banks across South Africa, Egypt and Morocco, but also the substantial differences in scale between the institutions leading the list and those occupying the remaining positions.
The ranking is based on banks’ reported total assets at end-June 2026, converted into US dollars to provide a consistent basis for comparison across institutions.
