Ecobank and the African cross-border banking gap

Leadership changes at African retail bank Ecobank two weeks ago ended a long and debilitating governance crisis for the bank. These events offer a case-study in the complicated politics of African cross-border banking and some of the big challenges banks like Ecobank will face working with African regulators struggling to build institutional frameworks to keep up with African market developments. The question for Africa’s cross-border banks, the businesses that depend on them and the investors increasingly interested by their potential is how politicians and policymakers in Africa balance the benefits of cross-border banking and supervisory concerns about risk contagion. The regulatory gap that needs closing in African banking also matters for African systemic stability. The experience of EU and ASEAN may provide lessons and ideas.