INTO AFRICA October 2017 Edition: Mind the Gap – Risk in Africa

INTO AFRICA October 2017 Edition: Mind the Gap – Risk in Africa

Welcome to the October 2017 edition of INTO AFRICA, a publication with fresh insight into Africa’s emerging capital markets. This edition looks at challenges and risks in Africa and its title: Mind The Gap: Risk In Africa. Over the past few years, African economies have increasingly an essential part of any expansion strategy as corporate leaders and fund managers under constant pressure to maximize returns and put capital to work. Although African markets offer a…

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South Africa Central Bank Says Graft Ombudsman Met Zuma Lawyers

South Africa Central Bank Says Graft Ombudsman Met Zuma Lawyers

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The country’s graft ombudsman used a probe into an apartheid-era bailout of a lender to attack the South African Reserve Bank and didn’t disclose a meeting with lawyers in President Jacob Zuma’s office to discuss the investigation before its findings were released, the central bank said. Public Protector Busisiwe Mkhwebane instructed lawmakers in a June 19 report to amend the constitution to make the bank focus on the “socioeconomic well-being of the citizens”…

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Barclays Kenya `Open Minded’ on Takeovers as Industry Wilts

Barclays Kenya `Open Minded’ on Takeovers as Industry Wilts

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Barclays Bank of Kenya Ltd. is ready to make acquisitions in East Africa’s largest economy as the industry struggles to cope with interest-rate caps that have cut profit and curbed lending and regulators urge the industry to consolidate. “Are we open to acquiring? Absolutely,” Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Awori said in an interview on Wednesday in Nairobi, the capital. “So you’ll either be looking to acquire capabilities you don’t have, which will…

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Barclays Africa Faces $88 Million Payout to State Over Bankorp

Barclays Africa Faces $88 Million Payout to State Over Bankorp

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Barclays Africa Group Limited, the South African lender formerly known as Absa, may have to pay the government an amount equivalent to 8 percent of its annual profit after the country’s anti-graft ombudsman said the bank unduly benefited from state support when it bought ailing Bankorp before the end of apartheid. “The illegal gift granted to Bankorp and Absa is in the amount of 1.125 billion rand,” Public Protector Busisiwe…

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Barclays Africa Purchase Said to Spur PIC Into Selling Sappi

Barclays Africa Purchase Said to Spur PIC Into Selling Sappi

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Public Investment Corp. sold a stake in Sappi Ltd., the world’s biggest maker of dissolving wood pulp, to help fund its purchase of shares in Barclays Africa Group Ltd., according to a person familiar with the matter. Africa’s biggest money manager has also sold shares in other companies to help it finance the Barclays Africa stake acquisition, said the person, who asked not to be named because the transactions are still confidential….

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Barclays Sells Zimbabwe Bank to Malawi’s First Merchant

Barclays Sells Zimbabwe Bank to Malawi’s First Merchant

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Barclays has announced the sale of its Zimbabwe bank to Malawi-listed First Merchant Bank on Friday as the British lender continues its exit from Africa. In March Barclays announced it was in talks on the sale of its stake in Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe as part of a broader exit from Africa to refocus on the United States and Britain. Barclays said the deal would remove 292 million pounds ($375.69 million)…

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Barclays Reaches Target on Africa Stake as It Boosts Sale

Barclays Reaches Target on Africa Stake as It Boosts Sale

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Barclays Plc reached a long-term target for shrinking its stake in its African unit earlier than expected as the bank boosted the size of a share sale by more than 50 percent. The London-based lender is selling 285.7 million shares of Barclays Africa Group Ltd., equal to a 33.7 percent stake, at 132 rand each, it said in a statement on Thursday. The bank previously planned to sell a 22 percent stake…

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