African Countries Have the Highest Number of Commercial Banks

Depending on where you are in the world, you may have access to different types of banks. Examples of these banks are central banks, commercial banks, merchant banks, microfinance banks, co-operative banks, exchange banks, etc.

Of all these different types of banks, commercial banks seem to be the ones always at the centre of all banking discussions. And that’s because of the crucial role they play in every economy. For instance, they help create capital, provide credit facilities and maintain liquidity in every economy.

What is a commercial banks?

According Bankrate LLC, a New York city based consumer financial services company, “a commercial bank is a for-profit financial institution that accepts deposits, offers loans and provides other financial services to its customers.”

Commercial banks are the leading types of banks around the world, be it in terms of number/availability, asset size and profitability. In Asia, there are at least 1,900 commercial banks. In the US alone, there are over 4,000 commercial banks. And Europe has more than 6,000 oof such banks, according to Statista.

Commercial banks in Africa

On the other hand, Africa has a total of 763 commercial banks. And some countries have more banks than others, as expected. Soon, we shall be focusing on these countries with the highest number of commercial banks.

Now, it’s important to point out that having a wide array of commercial banks does not always translate to stronger or better banking systems. To bring this into context, Tanzania has more commercial banks than South Africa. But South African banks are more valuable (in terms of asset size) than Tanzanian banks.

Below are seven African countries with the highest number of commercial banks. We compiled this list using information gleaned from sources such as African central banks, Statista, etc.