Moody's Investors Service on Monday said Sub-Saharan Africa's banking sectors face downside risks from the ongoing euro area debt crisis. Nonetheless, various structural attributes effectively cushion most economies in the region from the impact of deleveraging.

In a report named "Sub-Saharan Africa: Despite Risks, Banking Sector Exposures to Euro Area are Mitigated by Structural Factors," Moody's said the region will grow at a pace of 5.4 percent in 2012 after rising 5.1 percent last year.

Apart from bank deleveraging, the rating agency identified four additional transmission channels for shocks from Europe, namely a decline in trade, volatility in foreign direct investment and portfolio flows, deteriorating remittances and lower foreign aid.

The various banking systems across SSA have differing levels of exposure to European banks in view of their varying levels of development, diverse market structures and range of buffers.

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