The Editorial Team |

South Africa Enters Recession as Ramaphosa Shares Zuma’s Start

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa unexpectedly fell into its first recession for almost a decade, exacerbating the rand’s decline amid the recent emerging-market rout and heaping pressure on President Cyril Ramaphosa. Africa’s most-industrialized economy shrank an annualized 0.7 percent in the second quarter, an outcome that was far worse than any forecaster had anticipated. The outcome casts a pall over the country’s new leadership, providing an uncomfortable parallel with the initial phase nine…

From UBS Trading Floor to Ghana: Adoboli’s Journey Nears End

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ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Seven years ago this week, a cryptic post appeared on UBS Group AG trader Kweku Adoboli’s Facebook page: “Need a miracle.” He was on his way to racking up a $2 billion shortfall that would become the biggest unauthorized trading loss in British history. Today, the 38-year-old is grasping for a miracle of another kind. He was detained Monday as a prelude to being deported to his native Ghana under U.K. rules governing crimes…

Discovery to Buy Full Control of Card Unit From FirstRand

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Discovery Ltd. is on track to start a South African bank by the end of this year after agreeing to buy FirstRand Ltd.’s stake in a credit-card venture, a transaction which had delayed the lender’s launch. Johannesburg-based Discovery is joining a rush into South African retail banking by a range of entrants spanning from insurer Old Mutual Limited. to local banking-veteran Michael Jordaan, who is looking to start a digital-only offering. The country’s largest medical-insurance…

Equity Group Kenya Sees Limiting of State Lending `Archaic’

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s biggest bank by market value said plans by lawmakers to restrict how much the government can borrow from commercial lenders are outdated and risk infringing on the independence of the central bank. Legislators in the East African nation have proposed the measure to avoid the state sector crowding out businesses and consumers from accessing credit. Lawmakers also want to compel banks to set aside 10 percent of their…

MTN Got Nigerian Approval to Repatriate Funds Last Year, BD Says

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – MTN Group Ltd. and four lenders may have won approval from Nigeria’s central bank to repatriate funds in a 2017 ruling, Lagos-based Business Day reported, citing a letter signed by an official at the reserve bank. In the letter addressed to MTN Nigeria’s chief executive officer, the central bank confirms the validity of the company’s certificates of capital importation — needed to take funds out of the country — according…

Eritrea May Alter Army Draft That Forced Thousands to Europe

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ERITREA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Eritrea says it will cut the size of its army as part of changes to a system of mandatory national service that the United Nations blames for propelling tens of thousands of people to flee to Europe and neighbouring countries. The official end to a two-decade war with neighbouring Ethiopia means the country that sits on a key shipping route to the Suez Canal may be able to place some working-age…

Unity Bank Sells $1.1 Billion of Bad Loans to Lure Investors

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Unity Bank Plc sold 400 billion naira ($1.1 billion) of bad loans to clean up its balance sheet as it seeks to conclude talks for a cash injection aimed at stabilizing the Nigerian lender. The disposal to Frontier Capital Alternative Asset Ltd. of the toxic assets cut the ratio of non-performing loans to near zero from almost 50 percent and helped to shore up Unity Bank’s liquidity, Chief Financial Officer Ebenezer…

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