Unpacking the drivers of South Africa‘s corporate loan growth

Research evidence excerpt

Unpacking the drivers of South Africa‘s corporate loan growth

Idea

July 31, 2026 03:30 AM GMT

RMB Morgan Stanley Proprietary Limited+MEEMEA - South African Banks | Europe James Starke, CFA

Equity Analyst

Unpacking the drivers of South James.Starke@rmbmorganstanley.com

EEMEA - Banks & Fintech

Europe

Industry View In-LineAfrica's corporate loan growth

SA corporate loan growth (+10%Y vs system +8%Y) masks less

durable underlying composition: Financial Corporates were

+19%Y and drove 41% of corporate growth despite a 24%

corporate loan mix. We remain constructive, but see risks from

weaker durability; prefer FSR/ABG/CPI for more persistent loan

growth.

Key Takeaways

Corporate lending +10%Y and delivered 74% of system loan growth to May-26;

retail only +5%Y and supplied 26%, with corporate growth disconnected from

soft GDP.

Financial Corporates, just 14% of system loans, +19%Y and drove 30% of system

growth; driven by trading, repo & intra-group flows, raising reversal risk.

Non-Financial Corporates +8%Y and drove 44% of system growth; ABG (+15%Y)

and FSR (+10%Y) led the more persistent real-economy growth.

SBK and INL drove Financial Corporate growth (+38%Y/+102%Y); these

exposures supplied 60%/49% of own core growth, raising reversal risk.

Prefer FSR on quality, ABG on value, CPI on growth where Non-Financial

Corporates supplied 59%/74%/38% of core growth.

South African corporate loan growth of 10%Y outpaced 8%Y system core loan

growth in the year to May-26, contributing 74% of the R394bn increase in

system lending; retail grew 5%Y and supplied 26%. The disconnect between

corporate credit growth, weak fixed investment and modest GDP growth has

become a key investor debate. We therefore split corporate lending between

financial and non-financial corporates.