The classification by the international news magazine, "Jeune Afrique" includes seven Cameroonian banks.

Afriland First Group, BICEC, Afriland First Bank, SGBC, Standard Chartered Bank Cameroon, SCB Attijariwafa and Ecobank Cameroon feature amongst the 200 top banks in Africa for the year 2011. They occupy the 79th, 127th, 133rd, 140th, 162nd, 167th and 189th ranks, respectively. The exclusive bank classification that was published by the international news magazine, "Jeune Afrique" in its 28th Special edition, was largely dominated by South African banks occupying the first five positions ahead of prominent African banks in Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Nigeria, Togo, Angola, Tunisia and the Mauritius Islands in the first 50 positions. Standard Bank

Group of South Africa was first.

A breakdown of the classification of the performance of 50 first banks in the Central African zone places the seven aforementioned Cameroonian banks amongst the first 15 in the zone. However, the Gabonese bank, BGFI Bank Holding Corporation occupies the first position while Cameroon's Afriland First Group is second.

Explaining why BGFI Bank comes before Afriland First Group, Frédéric Maury, in his article says the Gabonese bank inherited the assets of the defunct Paribas Gabon but largely prospered because of its shareholding and the managerial involvement of the Bongo family. Although BGFI Bank has opened a microfinance component, it targets mostly wealthy clients and businesses. It equally specialises in high added value services like business banking and stock exchange. It concentrates its efforts on wealthy urban areas that are economically viable. In Gabon, Maury says, BGFI Bank has only five branches. The bank recorded high increases in deposits in 2010 due to its activities in Gabon, Congo-Brazzaville and Equatorial Guinea. In 2010, its deposits increased from FCFA 634 million to FCFA 1,1 billion; a proof of financial strength. From an initial capital of FCFA 104 billion, accumulated profits over time have led to permanent capital now attaining FCFA 240 billion and employing 1,041 staff.

On its part, Afriland First Group, now first in Equatorial Guinea, was born out of cooperatives and developed around the increasing use of bank services by businessmen, thus winning the market share enjoyed today. However, compared to the Gabonese bank, its growth is lower. At the end of 2010, the total bank deposits in the group progressed by 13 per cent and attained FCFA 852 million while its capital stood at FCFA 80 billion. BGFI Bank and Afriland First Group ranked 71st and 79th, respectively