The intermediation role of banks between borrowers and savers exposes them to various risks which impact their risk appetite and behaviour. Using annual panel data for the period 2010 to 2019, this paper examines the determinants of risk-taking behaviours of banks within the African context. The study sampled 45 listed banks from African nations that have adopted the Basel III regulatory requirements and used the random effect estimator to fit the static panel data models established for the study. The study shows that minimum capital requirements, capital buffer premium and profitability were significant determinants of the risk-taking behaviour of the African banks. However, compared to other variables, the minimum capital requirement remained the most important factor in terms of determining the risk-taking behaviour of the selected African banks. This is because the minimum capital requirement determining measure is more significant across the three measures of the risk-taking behaviour of the African banks compared to others. The study recommends that African banks should establish risk limits, improve risk identification, and establish a platform for bank stress testing by using the key determinants of risk-taking behaviour in making strategic business decisions.

Banks play a pivotal role in all economies by bringing balance to the economic flows of surplus and deficit. As a result of this, they are heavily regulated by national and globally accepted regulations such as the Basel III Accord. This research aims to ascertain the impact of the prudential Basel III regulations on the financial performance of selected listed African banks before the advent of Covid-19. The study used the fixed effects and random effect estimator to fit the static panel data established for the study. A panel of 45 listed banks from six African nations were used, covering the period from 2010 to 2019. The study concludes that the adoption of tighter and higher Basel III regulatory requirements has a double-edged-two-face implication on African banks' financial performance. This conclusion is based on the findings that the capital adequacy ratio has a positive effect on the financial performance of African banks while the liquidity and minimum capital requirement have a negative effect.