Banking | - Part 98

Angola Banks Appeal for Bailout as Oil Slump Cuts Liquidity

LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Angolan banks are appealing to the government to help put together a bailout package to protect account holders as lenders reel from low oil prices that make up almost all of the nation’s foreign-exchange earnings. Financial assistance could come from the administration of President Jose Eduardo dos Santos or be shared by all of the southwest African country’s 28 operational lenders, Amilcar Silva, chairman of the Association of Angolan Banks, said in…

Ghana Leaves Key Rate Steady as Policy Makers Seek Stable Cedi

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ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – Ghana’s central bank unexpectedly kept its benchmark rate unchanged as it balanced the risks to inflation and economic growth. The Bank of Ghana’s Monetary Policy Committee left the rate at 25.5 percent, Governor Abdul Nashiru Issahaku told reporters Monday in the capital, Accra. Only two of six economists in a Bloomberg survey said the central bank would keep borrowing costs unchanged, while the remaining four predicted a rate cut of 50 to…

Africa’s Biggest Bank Chasing Nigerian Deals After Oil Slump

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The crisis in Nigeria is throwing up opportunities for Africa’s largest bank. FirstRand Limited, which is seeking an acquisition of mid-sized lender in the continent’s most populous nation, is also considering one other target after ending talks with two lenders because of differences over price, Chairman Laurie Dippenaar said. The Johannesburg-based company would prefer an institution with a big branch network, though is unlikely to buy any of the country’s large banks,…

Kenya Central Bank Expects Current-Account Gap to Stabilize

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NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s current-account deficit will stabilize after shrinking last year as the currency strengthens, exports increase, tourism improves and remittances climb, central bank Governor Patrick Njoroge said. The gap probably narrowed to 5.2 percent of gross domestic product in 2016 from 10.4 percent 1 1/2 years earlier, he said in an interview Thursday in Davos, Switzerland. The bank will continue to intervene to slow the shilling’s depreciation and appreciation, trying to smooth…

Barclays Africa Faces Apartheid-Era Investigation on Bankorp

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Barclays Africa Group Ltd. is being investigated by South Africa’s graft ombudsman over whether it received undue state support when it bought Bankorp during the apartheid era, and whether it should repay the money. The Barclays unit said it’s “regrettable” that a preliminary report by the ombudsman was leaked to the media, adding that the document contains “several factual and legal inaccuracies.” The Johannesburg-based lender, then known as Absa, did not benefit from…

Cash Is King in Mugabe’s Zimbabwe as Dollar Supply Dries Up

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HARARE (Capital Markets in Africa) – Walk into Pedzai Nyika’s furniture factory in Zimbabwe’s capital and he’ll offer a 20 percent discount straight away — provided you pay in cash. He’s not alone. A shortage of banknotes gripping the southern African nation has become so dire that business are offering huge discounts to cash-paying customers and limiting the amounts they can charge on credit cards or refusing to accept them altogether. “I am desperate. Business is…

African banks’ regulation and supervision is improving, Says Moody’s

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – While increased regulation and improved supervision have strengthened the financial stability of African banks, progress has not been uniform and gaps remain, especially in the areas of enforcement and cross-border coordination, Moody’s Investors Service said in a report today. The report, entitled “Banks — Africa: Gaps in Banking Regulation and Supervision Are Progressively Being Addressed”, is now available on www.moodys.com. Moody’s subscribers can access this report via the link…

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