The Editorial Team |

South African Central Bank Champions Choice for Welfare Banking

South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: The 16.9 million people receiving welfare payments from South Africa’s government into bank accounts should have the right to choose between financial services companies, according to the country’s central bank. A contract awarded by the South African Social Security Agency to Johannesburg-based Net 1 UEPS Technologies Inc. to pay grants electronically in 2012 has this year been dogged by court battles and criminal charges. Under the contract, which will be taken over by the…

Siemens Targets Building South Africa Gas-Fired Power Plants

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South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: Siemens AG is interested in bidding to build gas-fired electricity-generating capacity in South Africa as the German engineering company boosts its presence in the country and the government seeks to end power shortages. “Gas can be a complete game-changer for the South African economy,” Siemens South Africa Chief Executive Officer Sabine Dall’Omo, 58, said in an interview in Johannesburg on Wednesday. “Gas is one of our strongholds. International investors are very…

Nigeria: Spectre of Who Is Next Stalks Nigeria After Bank Shakeout

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LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: The ousting of top management at one of Nigeria’s largest banks is deepening concern over the health of the industry. The central bank stepped in to replace the chief executive officer, chairman and 10 other directors of Skye Bank Plc on July 4 after the nation’s eighth-biggest lender consistently breached cash and liquidity ratios. The regulator made the announcement before a three-day holiday and after the market had closed. The stock tumbled to a record…

Why Pioneering Private Investors are Increasingly Critical to Africa’s Development

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LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Africa has long been a place for pioneers. With more than ten percent of the world’s population, and less than two percent of the world’s GDP, Africa needs far more investment that it receives. The challenge of identifying strong investments in a massive continent that is a complex array of 54 jurisdictions and even more languages, cultures, and political systems, has kept many private equity investors away. The Overseas…

Recent Private Equity Deal Activity in Africa

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LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: There have been a number of recent investments in 2015 into private healthcare and pharmaceuticals in Nigeria and into agriculture in Nigeria, Ethiopia and Kenya, and into life insurance and financial services business across West Africa, particularly Ghana. Telecommunications businesses across Africa also remain attractive. Regrettably a number of deals have collapsed or been put on hold (often indefinitely) due to the commodity slump (in particular the low oil…

Harnessing Maghreb’s Growth Potentials: A Private Equity Perspective

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LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Very often investors wonder whether investing in the Maghreb is beneficial and delivers high returns. There are several reasons why this region is more attractive than other emerging markets in the world. In the Maghreb countries, future growth expectations tend to be high, competition levels are rather low and markets relatively stable. Also, there is usually a strong pipeline of good companies in fundamentally good sectors. Another important element…

Fitch: Global Sovereign Downgrades Set for a Record Year

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LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Fitch Ratings-London-07 July 2016: Sovereign credit ratings are on track for a record number of downgrades in 2016, driven by the impact of lower commodity prices in emerging market economies, Fitch Ratings says in its latest bi-annual Sovereign Review and Outlook. There were 15 downgrades in 1H16 compared with the previous annual high of 20 in 2011, and 22 ratings are on Negative Outlook, suggesting this year’s final total…

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