Open AccessBasel capital requirements, portfolio shift and bank lending in Africa
Author(s) -
Damilola Oyetade,
Adefemi A. Obalade,
Paul-François Muzindutsi
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
acrn journal of finance and risk perspectives
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.122
H-Index - 2
ISSN - 2305-7394
DOI - 10.35944/jofrp.2021.10.1.014
Subject(s) - basel ii , capital requirement , capital adequacy ratio , risk adjusted return on capital , basel i , portfolio , basel iii , financial system , business , loan , risk weighted asset , economics , finance , capital formation , financial capital , economic growth , human capital , incentive , profit (economics) , microeconomics
Bank lending is a major source of income for a bank. Compliance with higher Basel capital requirements (CAR) portends serious implication for distribution of loan portfolio across different sectors. The objective of the study is to examine African banks’ responses to higher CAR in terms of portfolio shift. The study used descriptive statistics and ANOVA for panel data of African commercial banks that have implemented Basel II or III CAR for the period 2000 and 2018. Based on the results of our analysis, implementation of higher Basel CAR by African banks revealed four key findings. Firstly, our results suggest that higher Basel CAR particularly Basel III reduced total loans for South African banks. Secondly, African banks engage in portfolio shift with higher Basel levels. Thirdly, higher Basel capital increased banks' capital ratios in Africa, but some banks are still characterized by low equity. Fourthly, African banks reduce lending to high risk-weighted loans such as real estate and commercial loans except for South African banks which increased lending to commercial loans with higher Basel CAR. Lastly, this study proffers key insight into the lending behaviour of African banks with the implementation of higher Basel CAR.