Sub-Saharan African countries will enjoy significant growth in their banking systems in the next decade, according to a new report.

The Economist Intelligence Unit identified the three main drivers of development as high rates of economic growth, financial deepening to fulfil huge unmet needs for basic financial services and new technologies to provide them – particularly via mobile phones.

The report predicts that 16 key African economies will follow one of two scenarios. A conservative estimate shows that economic expansion will result in a 178 percent boost in financial assets to US$980bn by 2020, while a more likely one driven by both economic growth and financial deepening would result in a 248 percent expansion in assets worth US$1.37trn in the same period.

It also stated that while the banking boom across Africa will vary greatly, it is likely to enjoy its most rapid expansion in Angola, increasing assets at least fivefold by 2020, as that country experiences a “surge in petroleum production and builds up an industry long hampered by civil war and economic leverage.”

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