Equity Group Holdings has been ranked 71st globally among 500 top-performing banks in the inaugural Forbes World’s Top Performing Banks 2026 ranking.
The Kenyan lender emerged as the highest-ranked bank in East and Central Africa, placing in Tier 5, which comprises lower mid-size banks with between $10 billion and $20 billion in total assets.
According to Forbes, the report assessed banks across four key areas: profitability, growth and earnings quality, capital and funding resilience, and asset quality and efficiency.
Profitability accounted for 30 percent of the overall score, while growth and earnings quality contributed 20 percent. Capital and funding resilience and asset quality and efficiency each carried a 25 percent weighting.
“Banks that met these criteria were then evaluated across four main dimensions: profitability (weighted at 30%); growth and earnings quality (20%); capital and funding resilience (25%); and asset quality and efficiency (25%),” read part of the report.
How Equity and Other Banks Were Assessed
The assessment considered indicators including return on average assets, cost-to-income ratio, net interest margin, earnings growth, customer deposit growth, capital strength, funding structure, credit quality, and risk management.
Other Kenyan banks featured in the ranking include KCB Group, which ranked 79th globally in Tier 5; Co-operative Bank of Kenya ranked 120th; and Stanbic Holdings placed 138th, all in Tier 6.
To qualify for the ranking, banks had to be licensed deposit-taking institutions with lending as a core business, publish audited financial statements, and have at least three consecutive years of financial data. They were also required to have more than $3 billion in assets.
Forbes divided qualifying banks into six tiers based on total assets, ranging from global banks with more than $500 billion in assets to small banks with between $3 billion and $10 billion.
“Tier 1 (aka global banks) included those with more than $500 billion in total assets; Tier 2 (large banks) included those with $100 to $500 billion in total assets; Tier 3 (upper mid-size banks), $50 to $100 billion; Tier 4 (mid-size banks), $20 to $50 billion; Tier 5 (lower mid-size banks), $10 to $20 billion; and Tier 6 (small banks), $3 to $10 billion,” read part of the report.
Forbes developed the ranking in partnership with market research firm Statista, using objective financial data rather than customer perception or survey-based evaluations.
Also Read: Equity Group Profit Jumps 32% to KSh45.5 Billion
Group’s Half-Year Profit
The assessment came as Equity reported strong financial performance in the first half of 2026, posting a record Ksh45.5 billion profit after tax, representing a 32 percent increase year-on-year.
Profit before tax rose 39 percent to Ksh57.8 billion, while total income increased 25 percent to Ksh124.9 billion.
The growth was supported by higher funded and non-funded income, alongside improving asset quality and stronger performance from the group’s regional subsidiaries.
Net interest income grew 17 percent to Ksh69.3 billion, while non-funded income increased 36 percent to Ksh55.6 billion.
Also Read: 121 Equity Scholars Earn KSh3 Billion Scholarships to Top Global Universities
Non-funded income accounted for 44.5 percent of total income, up from 40.8 percent a year earlier.
Equity’s balance sheet also expanded during the period, with total assets rising 20 percent to Ksh2.16 trillion. Customer deposits increased 21 percent to Ksh1.59 trillion, while net loans grew 19 percent to Ksh981 billion.
The group’s subsidiaries outside Kenya contributed 42 percent of banking profit after tax, 47 percent of banking revenue, 54 percent of loans and 52 percent of banking assets, underscoring their growing contribution to the group’s overall performance.
Equity Bank Kenya remained the largest earnings contributor, with profit after tax rising 32% to KSh25.7 Bn.
Its net interest margin widened to 8.6% from 7.5%, while return on average equity increased to 34.7% from 28.1%.
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