Banking | - Part 110

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…

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…

Nigeria Says Its Banks Are Safe, Urges Against Panic Withdrawals

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LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Nigeria’s central bank said all its lenders are safe, aiming to quell fears after it ousted the management of Skye Bank Plc on Monday for failing to meet capital and liquidity thresholds. “The Central Bank of Nigeria hereby reassures the banking and general public that their deposits remain safe,” Isaac Okorafor, a spokesman for the Abuja-based regulator, said in an e-mailed statement Wednesday. “There is, therefore, no need for panic withdrawals…

Kenya Bank | Capital Injection Gives Fresh-Faced Kenyan Bank Room to Expand

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NAIROBI, Kenya, Capital Markets in Africa: A series of capital injections is giving a small Kenyan bank the space to expand at a time when many lenders in East Africa’s largest economy are struggling to overcome the fallout of three failures in the industry in the space of eight months. Equatorial Commercial Bank Ltd. renamed itself Spire Bank and plans to grow its market share to 1 percent by 2019 from 0.5 percent, Chief Executive Officer…

Nigerian Regulator Ousts Skye Bank Board Over Capital Concerns

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LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Nigeria’s central bank replaced almost all the members of Skye Bank Plc’s board for repeatedly failing to meet minimum thresholds on liquidity and capital adequacy ratios. Chief Executive Officer Timothy Oguntayo and three of the bank’s eight other executives quit, along with Chairman Olatunde Ayeni and seven other non-executives, Governor Godwin Emefiele told reporters in Lagos on Monday. Alhaji Ahmad was named as new chairman and Adetokunbo Mukhail Abiru, a former Harvard Business School graduate…

Angola Raises Rates to a Record as IMF Loan Talks Called Off in June

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Luanda, Angola, Capital Markets in Africa: Angola’s central bank raised its benchmark interest rate to a record 16 percent, the third increase this year, as the International Monetary Fund said the southern African nation called off loan talks to help steady the oil-producing nation’s economy. The Banco Nacional de Angola increased the key lending rate from 14 percent after a meeting of its Monetary Policy Committee in the capital, Luanda, on Thursday. The bank has increased the rate by five percentage…

South Africa Ratings Cut Could Complicate Reserve Bank’s Task

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SOUTH AFRICA, Capital Markets in Africa: A cut in South Africa’s credit rating could complicate the Reserve Bank’s challenge of weak growth and accelerating inflation, according to Deputy Governor Francois Groepe. “A sovereign rating can have an impact on monetary policy because of how it influences the availability and cost of external financing, the yields on domestic debt and, in turn, the performance of the rand,” Groepe said in a speech posted on the central bank’s website…

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