Determinants of Bank Interest Margins in Sub-Saharan Africa

This paper examines the determinants of bank interest margins using a sample of 456 banks in 41 SSA countries. The results show that 1/ market concentration is positively associated with interest margins, but the impact depends on the level of efficiency of each bank; 2/ bank-specific factors such as credit risk, liquidity risk, and bank equity are important determinants of interest margins; 3/ interest margins are sensitive to inflation, but not to economic growth or public or foreign ownership.