The impact of new foreign banks strategies on banking in Africa

Abstract

With the deregulation and liberalisation of the Ghanaian financial sector, the Ghanaian banking sector has seen an influx of new foreign banks, which are competing very well in this market. However, there is limited research on the impact of the strategies and impact of these new bank's operations in the host country. Using a qualitative and the interview method, data was collected from a case of four foreign banks operating in Ghana and analysed using cross-case comparative analysis. The findings from the study reveal that the exposure of foreign bank strategies in domestic markets leads to both positive and negative impacts. The operations of these foreign banks impact positively on their performance with higher profits and a negative impact on domestic bank's profitability. This paper explores these empirical findings and presents its implications for foreign bank's operations in the domestic markets of an emerging economy.