Banking | - Part 113

Nigeria’s Central Bank Seen Loosening Stranglehold on Currency

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Nigerian policy makers may be about to loosen their stranglehold on the nation’s currency. The central bank of Africa’s biggest economy will decide Tuesday on whether to adjust borrowing rates as evidence mounts that a recession is looming. Barclays Plc, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Renaissance Capital Ltd. are among banks predicting it will also carry out a de facto devaluation of the naira, or even a gradual removal of capital controls that have…

South Africa | PIC in Talks to Create Group to Bid for Barclays Africa Stake

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Johannesburg, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: The Public Investment Corp., Africa’s biggest fund manager, said it’s forming a group of black investors to buy a stake in Barclays Africa Group Ltd. in a bid to ensure the bank comes back under the control of South Africans. “There are discussions with institutional investors managing black money, such as pension funds,” Dan Matjila, head of the Pretoria-based PIC, said by phone on Monday. As yet it’s difficult to say how…

Central Bank of Kenya to hold rates on Monday, cut next quarter

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JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: Kenya’s central bank will wait a few more months before cutting its benchmark interest rate as inflation, while slowing, is still above target and so allows it room to wait, a Reuters poll found on Friday. Eight of 12 analysts polled this week said rates would be left on hold on Monday at 11.5 percent while two said they expect a 50 basis point cut. The other two…

Attijariwafa Said to Work With UBS on Bid for Barclays Egypt

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Casablanca, Morocco, Capital Markets in Africa: Attijariwafa Bank, Morocco’s biggest lender, is working with UBS Group AG on a potential bid for Barclays Plc’s Egyptian business, people familiar with the matter said. The U.K. bank has received limited interest for the business after reaching out to Gulf-based banks, two of the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. The British bank has yet to receive any non-binding offers, they said. Chief Executive Officer Jes…

South Africa Maintains Rate at 7% Despite Inflation Risk in May

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Johannesburg, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: The pause in the South African central bank’s policy tightening cycle may be short-lived as it forecast increasing risks for inflation from a weaker rand and food prices. The repurchase rate was left unchanged at 7 percent, Governor Lesetja Kganyago told reporters on Thursday in the capital, Pretoria. Nineteen of the 25 economists in a Bloomberg survey predicted no change to borrowing costs. Five of the six members Monetary Policy Committee members preferred to keep the rate unchanged…

Barclays Africa Mulls Investment-Bank Venture Post Parent’s Exit

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Johannesburg, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: Barclays Africa Group Limited said it is considering a joint investment-banking venture with Barclays Plc as its London-based parent plans to further reduce its controlling stake. “At the corporate and investment bank the synergies provided a significant advantage,” Barclays Africa Chairwoman Wendy Lucas-Bull said at the Johannesburg-based bank’s annual general meeting on Tuesday. “We are looking at the issues business by business and at what the options are, like a joint venture.” Barclays sold…

We Were Sleeping, Says Kenya Central Banker After Lenders Fail

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NAIROBI, Kenya, Capital Markets in Africa: Kenya’s central bank said that it should have stepped in sooner to halt the collapse of three lenders in the past nine months and that a culture of leniency by the regulator contributed to a build-up of misconduct in the industry. “The watchdog should have barked sooner and louder,” Njoroge told lawmakers in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital. “We have been asleep at the switches in terms of us failing to…

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