Features | - Part 245

Investors Targeting African Banks Despite High Risks, Fitch Says

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Fitch Ratings-London-10 May 2016: With the exception of South Africa, sub-Saharan African banks tend to have highly speculative fundamental credit quality, but strategic investors are still looking to expand in the region, says Fitch Ratings. Barclays is progressing with the sale of its African banking franchise, Nigeria’s United Bank for Africa is diversifying into new countries and Morocco’s BMCE Bank is increasing its stake in a Sub-Saharan subsidiary. The…

Africa’s growth: Meltdown or slowdown?

Posted on by The Editorial Team

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: Economic growth across the region is likely to remain slower in coming years than it has been over the past 10 to15 years. The International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) baseline projection for 2016 is now down to 3%, from what was a forecasted 6.1% in April 2015(1). The main reasons for a relative slowdown are not unique to Africa and are the same as those weighing down the global…

Nigeria |MasterCard Sees Growth in Nigerian Traders Without Bank Accounts

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa — MasterCard Inc. plans to introduce new payment systems in Nigeria that will target merchants who don’t have bank accounts and rely mostly on cash transactions. The company is working with the umbrella organizations of Nigerian traders and collaborating with banks and technology companies to start offering the services this year, Omokehinde Ojomuyide, MasterCard’s vice president and area business head for West Africa, said May 6 in an interview in Lagos,…

South Africa | Partnerships Can Avert South Africa Junk Rating, Radebe Says

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Johannesburg, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa — South Africa’s government is confident that its partnerships with business and labor can help it avert a credit-rating downgrade to junk, according to Jeff Radebe, Minister for Planning, Performance, Monitoring & Evaluation in the Presidency. “We are not envisaging a downgrade because we have put in measures as a government working with our partners in the private sector and labor to ensure that we stay the course,” Rabede told…

Investing in Africa’s Equity: Balancing Risk, Return and Regret

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Broad-based performance of African equities in 2015 was something many investors like to forget, if they do not regret their investment decision in the first place. Investors following the herd and buying into the asset class for the first time in the heydays of 2013 can be regularly found in the latter category. Others, who remained on the sidelines so far, can now buy great African businesses at much…

Nigeria | Data Releases Show Economy on a Sticky Wicket … Outlook Conservative

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa — This week’s data releases by the CBN and NBS – April 2016 Purchasing Manager’s Index (PMI) and Q1:2016 Quarterly Capital Importation data – revealed very disappointing numbers. Besides the fact that the weak numbers reflected poorly on business activities and investment confidence, they further reinforced the market perception that weakening domestic fundamentals is yet abating. The PMI data, a monthly survey carried out by the CBN to examine…

South Africa Reserve Bank Can Wait — Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Johannesburg, Capital Markets in Africa — The South Africa Reserve Bank continues to be one of the most orthodox emerging market central banks in the aftermath of the global financial crisis. As inflation has been above the bank’s target band, it is one of the few EM central banks to have hiked the policy rate so far this year. Even as the global backdrop has become much more emerging market friendly compared to late last…

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