Zimbabwe has overtaken Nigeria as Africa’s top-performing stock market, recording a year-to-date return of 68.5% in US dollar terms as of July 31, compared to Nigeria’s 66.9%. This shift reflects improved macroeconomic stabilization in Zimbabwe. Meanwhile, the broader African banking sector is seeing increased activity as Bank of America appoints Simbah Mutasa to lead its African franchise and Emirates NBD expands in Egypt by acquiring HSBC’s local retail business. In other regional developments, mining billionaire Patrice Motsepe has seen his net worth drop by nearly $1 billion due to falling South African mining shares, while Kenya and Zambia both reported 6.5% inflation for July.