October 2016 |

South Africa’s Banks: Examining the Current Environment, Exploring the 10 Year Outlook

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The 2015/16 Global Competitive Index, published by the World Economic Forum, rates the SA banking sector 6 out of 140 countries in the availability of financial services and 8th in the soundness of banks. This is high praise for a banking sector that is small in global terms, but is globally connected and punches way above its weight globally. The quarterly S A Reserve Bank Report details statistics that…

Mauritius’ Banking Sector: Overview, Challenges and Opportunities

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Banking Sector Overview Over 20 banks operate in Mauritius and, in addition to traditional banking services, they offer a range of specialised services ranging from custodial services to cross-border activities. Half of these banks offer retail banking services to residents – a space dominated by a couple of players – while the rest focus on specialised international banking services and also include a couple of purely private banks. In Mauritius, the domestic operations are typically…

Cybercrime in East Africa targeting local business

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Although the majority of East African institutions and businesses are investing in their security infrastructure, many are doing so in the wrong places. A recent report by Control Risks has revealed that Government, followed by telecoms and financial services are at most risk in East Africa. Of note is that the report shows that attacks are not only carried out against multinationals operating in the region – a common…

The Banking Bill: A State of Transition for the Kenyan Banking Sector

Posted on by The Editorial Team

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Banking (Amendment) Bill by Parliament to cap banks’ lending rates at 400 bps above the Central Bank of Kenya’s base rate and impose a deposit floor at 70% of the CBR was signed into law on 24th of August 2016. If the law is implemented immediately, banks will charge a maximum of 14.5% on loans while paying about 7.35% on deposits held in interesting earning deposits. Impact on Banks…

A Weak Macroeconomic Climate: A Clog in the Wheel of The Nigerian Banking Industry?

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Over the last two years, the Nigerian economy has contended with severe pressures primarily on account of the plummeting price of crude oil. In addition to reducing federally collected revenue, the external reserves have also maintained a downward trajectory. The situation was further aggravated by a renewed militancy in the oil producing region, changes in political administration and the delays in the clear articulation of an economic direction by…

Emerging BASEL IV: An Opportunity For African Banks?

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Introduction LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Whilst developed countries have been frantically adopting the string of new capital adequacy regulations released by the Basel Committee of Banking Supervision (“BCBS”), since the global financial crisis, the situation across the African continent has been very different. Apart from South Africa, which has been closely aligning with the BCBS developments, the picture on the rest of the continent is very mixed. Some countries on the continent still…

« 1 2