Banking

LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Angola’s central bank will focus on inflation and then financial stability from the start of next year after lawmakers agreed to change its mandate, Governor Jose de Lima Massano said.  Parliament on Sept. 1 approved a law to boost the central bank’s independence by changing the way the governor is appointed and the mandate of the bank. At a meeting of the central bank’s monetary policy committee on Thursday, the first since the…

CASSABANLA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Morocco’s central bank is expected to keep its benchmark interest rate at a record low as subdued inflation gives policymakers space to focus on a priority set by the king — reviving an economy battered by Covid.  Tuesday’s rate decision comes 10 days before a highly anticipated address by King Mohammed VI to the newly elected parliament, in which he’s expected to put economic growth at the top of…

LUSAKA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema named Denny Kalyalyaas central bank governor, returning the highly-regarded economist to the job 13 months after his shock dismissal hit the nation’s currency and dollar bonds. Kalyalya’s appointment is effective immediately and subject to lawmakers’ approval, the presidency said in an emailed statement Monday. His placement follows Hichilema’s selection of other seasoned officials to fill key economic posts, including that of Situmbeko Musokotwane as finance minister and…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s central bank held its benchmark interest rate for a seventh straight meeting and turned more hawkish on raising borrowing costs through 2023. The monetary policy committee kept the repurchase rate at 3.5%, Governor Lesetja Kganyago said Thursday in an online briefing. The decision by the five-member panel was unanimous, the same as in July. The key rate remains at the lowest level since it was introduced in 1998. The…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa)- Rand Merchant Investment Holdings Ltd. will divest from insurers Discovery Ltd. and Momentum Metropolitan Holdings Ltd. as part of a wider restructuring of the South African investment group. The firm is planning a rights issue of as much as 6.5 billion rand ($440 million) to facilitate the move, according to a Monday statement. The proceeds will be used to pay down debt and are required for the two exits to proceed,…