The continent of Africa may not be quite popular for its financial situation. Over the years many of the African states had to endure serious social and economic issues. Many of these problems were connected to the past when the countries suddenly became independent. Even if you look at the African continent right now, you will see borders that are straight lines. This means that artificial borders were made, which ultimately may have involved some tribes that don’t agree with it, creating the problems plaguing the continent at this moment.
However, despite the famine, economic failures and all of the adversity the African continent was still able to see a substantial growth both financially and in terms of infrastructure. Many countries like Nigeria and Kenya were the first to really take off in their developments. They were the most active participants in the UN procedures, quickest to adopt western-style governments and most efficient to eradicate corruption as much as they could.
Even though there are successes they need to be kept on a sustainable level. The continent is plagued with serious criminal cases. Terrorist groups mostly go unpunished and unchallenged, governments are not able to invest properly in defense as they keep on suffering more and more from the criminal activity. But despite all of this, there are still institutions making a killing. Let’s see who they are and what they are doing right.
Best Forex broker in Africa Markets.com
South Africa is becoming one of the best places to trade Forex in 2018. Many European traders may even consider switching to the Forex brokers stationed there as they are able to provide high leverage feature, which the EU based brokers are being stripped of my ESMA. However, there are concerns of with broker to choose.
In comes Markets.com as they continue to show massive growth and support for not only the continent but the country as well. Not only is the broker able to accommodate international traders, but it is also able to have special features for South African traders as well. By providing the best no deposit bonuses and leverage rates it was able to quickly become one of the best Forex brokers in South Africa as well as in the region. Although there is still competing on the market, the broker managed to handle it very professionally by creating a welcoming brand. The fact that the South African Rand saw most of its high volatility between 2017 and 2018 is what helped this brokerage grow the most.
Thanks to the growth it is now able to expand further into the continent and start featuring the best services for the industry.
2018 Best bank in Africa
Global Finance ranked Standard Bank as the top Bank of Africa for 2018. The bank is currently located in South Africa and is the top performing financial institution on the continent thanks to its amazing performance and international connections despite the troubling times. The bank’s international dealings are illustrated in its number of branches. It currently has a presence in 20 of the continent’s countries, providing the best lending deals of them all.
The contribution of group earnings was increased to 28% thanks to the bank’s multiple international partnerships. Even though the local currency was appreciating the bank still managed to pull off a 2% increase compared to 2017, which is no small feat as it was easier to get tangible growth back then.
The bank doesn’t keep too many secrets as it added a nice statement to their announcement of 2017 results. The announcement entailed the bank’s values for becoming a client-centered business, and their desire to go digital as much as possible.
Since we already know that Standard Bank ranked #1 on the continent, it should be no surprise that it was able to do in separate states as well. The countries it succeeded most in were South Africa, Uganda, and Botswana.
M-Pesa the Saviour
M-Pesa was created in 2007 by Vodafone. It was created for Safaricom mostly and is currently listed there as well. The whole concept of the project is to make transactions tailored to mobile users. It doesn’t necessarily have online payments, but rather SMS payments protected by a PIN.
The project was quite relevant for the region as almost all of the East African countries utilize mobile payments. Not only that but M-Pesa was also an amazing addition for the continents social development.
The country made it their primary objective to eradicate poverty on the continent by providing the best mobile payment services there were. They were able to do this by providing a digital account tied to a customer’s phone or phone number.
With the services, the population was able to pay bills, make transactions, save money on their virtual account and most importantly, the service was cheap.
Thanks to their exceptional business model and convenience, the company has been named many times as the best online payment providers in the developing world.