Banking

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Almost two decades of profligate monetary policy has destroyed Zimbabwe’s economy and fueled rampant inflation, decimating the savings of its people twice. Hyperinflation of as much as 500 billion percent in 2008 made savings worthless and led to the abolition of the local currency in favor of the dollar the following year. In 2016, former President Robert Mugabe’s cash-strapped government introduced securities known as bond notes that it insisted traded…

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – The Bank of England stepped up its defenses against a disruptive Brexit and Governor Mark Carney offered more warnings about the damage that a no-deal withdrawal from the European Union could do to the economy. The central bank will offer lenders extra liquidity provisions around the March 29 exit date, a measure designed to smooth the plumbing of the market operating in times of potential stress. It mirrors its actions around…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The African Development Bank has kicked off a feasibility study to explore the potential of electricity cooperative business models in Nigeria and Ethiopia. The effort is part of the Bank’s goal of achieving universal electricity access across Africa by 2025. Currently, power shortages diminish the region’s GDP growth by 2-4% per year, holding back job creation and poverty reduction efforts. The study, funded by the South-South Cooperation Trust Fund,…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s First National Bank. FNB has said that it has detected abnormally high volumes and disputes of suspicious debit orders with descriptors Procall and Mzansi in December 2018 and January 2019. In line with its standard practice, the Bank has informed customers of new debit orders loaded on their bank accounts. In addition, and based upon the monitoring of debit order disputes, FNB has detected that a large…

HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Eurasian Resources Group Sarl will halt production at a copper and cobalt mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo, as it considers future investment in new production methods. The shutdown at Boss Mining Sprl will curb cobalt supplies from a nation that accounts for three-quarters of global production of the metal used in rechargeable batteries. The suspension comes at a time of strained relations between Congo and investors after the nation last…

CAIRO (Capital Markets in Africa) = Investors are bidding up Egypt’s currency even with the wait for the central bank to resume interest-rate cuts unlikely to end for months. Plans to lift fuel subsidies this year are certain to push up inflation, which already gained in January after ending last year within the central bank’s target range. Bloomberg Economics estimates that the complete removal of fuel subsidies would increase inflation by as much as 2 percentage points, depending on…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – A lobby group representing South African banks urged President Cyril Ramaphosa to prioritize the country’s wider interests rather than securing votes for the ruling African National Congress if he is to boost confidence in the economy before elections in May. Ramaphosa’s plan to split troubled power utility Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd. into three separate parts has met resistance from the country’s largest labor federation, which has been in an alliance with the ANC and the…