Six Angolan banks and one from Mozambique are the only banks from Portuguese-speaking countries to be listed in the 2012 list of Africa’s largest banks by shareholders’ equity, put together each year by African Business magazine.

In a list in which South African banks, such as the Standard Bank Group, FirstRand Banking Holdings, ABSA Group, Nedbank Group and Investec Bank take the top five spots, the first Angolan bank to appear is Banco Angolano de Investimentos (BAI), still called Banco Africano de Investimentos, in 27th place with equity of US$708 million.

In 28th place is Banco de Poupança e Crédito (US$705 million), in 32nd is Banco BIC (650 million), Banco de Fomento Angola is in 38th (US$473 million), Banco Espírito Santo Angola (BESA) is ranked 49th with US$383 million and in 86th place comes Banco Millennium Angola, with US$171 million.

Mozambique’s Millennium BIM is the only other bank from a Portuguese-speaking country to make the list and is ranked 67th with shareholders’ equity of US$244 million.

In a single year BAI rose from 33rd place to 27th, and Banco de Poupança e Crédito and BIC jumped 10 places in the ranking from 38th to 28th and from 42nd to 32nd, respectively. BESA rose two places from 50th to 48th and Banco Millennium Angola fell two spots from 84th to 86th place.

Millennium BIM also surged 10 places in the ranking from 77th in 2011 to 67th in 2012.

The sum of the equity of the top five South African banks on the list – US$32.636 billion – is more than the total equity of the banks listed from 6th to 27th in the ranking, which include banks from Morocco, Libya, Nigeria, Egypt, Algeria, Togo, and Mauritius. (macauhub)