Top 20 Middle East and Africa banks by market cap, Q1 2026

Saudi Arabian banks boosted their market capitalizations during the first quarter, defying stock market declines across the Gulf region prompted by the war in the Middle East.

Alinma Bank's market cap climbed 18.4% from the end of 2025, the largest increase in a sample of the 20 biggest Middle East and Africa-based banks, S&P Global Market Intelligence data shows. The rise pushed it up two places up the rankings to 17th.

Saudi Awwal Bank followed with a 15.2% market cap increase, elevating it to 15th.

Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corp. and Saudi National Bank strengthened their positions as the most valuable lenders of the region with market cap increases of 9.3% and 10.3%, respectively.

Among its Gulf peers, only Saudi Arabian banks recorded market cap increases in the first quarter, largely thanks to domestic investors who doubled down on their support for local equities rather than investing abroad, according to a Bloomberg News report March 13. For instance, Saudi corporates and government-related entities accounted for net purchases of 3 billion riyals of local equities in the week to March 5.

Local investors in the United Arab Emirates have made similar efforts, but that country has a higher share of foreign ownership in its companies compared to Saudi Arabia, making it more exposed to outflows, the Bloomberg report noted.

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank PJSC suffered the largest market cap deterioration among the sample, falling 13.7% quarter over quarter to $26.57 billion. First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC and Emirates NBD Bank PJSC each logged low single-digit declines in market value.

The war between the US and Israel and Iran has heightened risks to UAE banks, prompting several authorities to introduce support packages for the industry. The Abu Dhabi and Dubai stock exchanges closed trading for two days following the outbreak of the war, which started in late February, while Boursa Kuwait halted its trading for one day.

Elsewhere, National Bank of Kuwait SAKP fell two places to 13th and Qatar National Bank QPSC dropped one place to sixth. Of the four African banks to feature in this sample, only Standard Bank Group Ltd. ended the quarter higher, with its market cap rising 5.1% to $28.95 billion.

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