A new Fitch Ratings report finds African banking groups are increasingly pushing into new countries to tap rising cross-border trade and lessen their dependence on any single domestic market. The report revealed that the share of foreign assets held by three major Nigerian banks—Access, UBA, and Zenith—rose sharply between 2021 and 2025. The trend is also being driven by banks in Kenya, Morocco, and South Africa. The African Continental Free Trade Area, expected to boost trade and investment across the continent, plays a major part in the banks’ thinking. Meanwhile, expansion targets differ by market: Nigerian and South African banks are drawn to Kenya because of its growing retail lending sector, while Kenyan lenders are attracted to the Democratic Republic of Congo after it joined the East African Community in 2022.