Tunisian Banks Struggle to Align with Regional and International Hierarchies
Tunisian banks have yet to align with regional and international hierarchies due to the modest size of their equity, certain structural limitations, and a significant technological and digital deficit. As a result, they must re-examine their strategies and prioritize financial inclusion.
According to the latest 2025 ranking based on Tier 1 capital, no Tunisian bank has managed to break into the top 20 in Africa. The same hierarchy dominates the ranking, with South Africa, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, and Nigeria leading the way. Despite the recognized quality of Tunisia's human capital, the country's banks continue to lag behind.
The report attributes this situation to structural limitations, including a shallow and unfavorable market that hinders capital accumulation. Macroeconomic constraints, such as high sovereign debt exposure, currency volatility, and economic slowdown, also prevent the formation of reassuring reserves.
Insufficient Equity
Experts estimate that the concentration of Tunisian banks, both public and private, on the local market has penalized their functioning and hindered their growth. The excessive reliance on the banking sector to finance the state budget in recent years has resulted in difficulties in rebuilding provisions and rebalancing equity.
This exposure is somewhat risky, especially considering the size of the local market. Although the ranking is not catastrophic, it could have significant consequences, particularly in terms of attracting foreign capital and providing local businesses with competitive financing options.
Need for Improvement
Tunisian banks must quickly re-examine their strategies and identify ways to improve their equity and competitiveness. This requires enhancing credit risk management and mastering doubtful claims to minimize potential losses. The latter is crucial, given that the non-performing loan (NPL) rate stood at around 14.7% at the end of the first quarter of 2025, which is relatively high for a fragile sector.
Innovation, Competition, and International Openness
In the face of international financial stress and increasingly heavy geo-economic pressures, the Tunisian banking sector needs a profound reinvention. This reinvention should involve total transparency in management, increased competition through the involvement of new players, consolidation of financial innovation, diversification of strategic partnerships, and guaranteed regional and international openness.
Tunisian banks must also focus on providing a good customer experience through digitalization, personalized services, operational strengthening, and improved financial education. This new customer-centric approach combines technology and human services, ensuring a more reliable connection, especially within the framework of a well-established corporate social responsibility (CSR) program.
Such a program is essential, as it would help gradually achieve the goal of banking inclusion by improving access to basic services, reducing inequalities, and consolidating financial autonomy, ultimately serving a sustainable socio-economic development approach. This strategic challenge has been a cornerstone of Tunisia's national development policy for some time.
