The Editorial Team |

Virus Wipes 20% Off Income of South African Bank’s Customers

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — The average income of customers at South Africa’s First National Bank plummeted by about 20% during the nation’s lockdown as people took pay cuts or had less work to do. FirstRand Ltd.’s retail banking unit also experienced a “major drop off” in transactional activity and credit-card spending as businesses closed and people stayed home, FNB’s retail banking head Raj Makanjee said on a call with reporters on Tuesday. Credit growth suffered as South…

Weary Sudan Sees Fresh IMF Program as Path to Economic Salvation

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SUDAN (Capital Markets in Africa) — Sudan is seeking its first staff-monitored International Monetary Fund program since 2014 as the one-time pariah works toward reintegrating with the global economy. Agreeing to the non-financial initiative in June talks and persuading the U.S. to drop its long-standing listing of Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism are key planks of the transitional government’s plan, Finance Minister Ibrahim El-Badawi said in emailed comments. A new IMF advisory program…

South African Watchdog Revives 5-Year-Old Rand-Rigging Case

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — South Africa’s antitrust-watchdog revived a five-year-old case against banks that were accused of manipulating trades in the rand-dollar currency-pair. The Competition Commission has compiled a new charge sheet against more than 20 lenders that allegedly colluded to fix prices and divide markets in the currency pair, mostly in New York, the regulator said in an email Tuesday. Nedbank Group, FirstRand Ltd.’s Rand Merchant Bank and Standard Bank Group’s Standard Americas Inc….

Cisco-backed Harambe Raises Fund to Support African Tech Firms

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LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) — Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance, whose backers include Cisco Systems Inc. and a foundation of South African businessman Jonathan Oppenheimer, has raised $1 million to support its African technology startups and help kick-start the return of venture capital to the continent following the coronavirus outbreak. The group has allocated about $100,000 each for two Nigerian companies to help them through economic downturns caused by the pandemic, Harambe Chairman Okendo Lewis-Gayle said in a…

South Africa’s Central Bank Rules Out Financing Government

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — South Africa’s central bank ruled out helping the government fund its runaway budget deficit by paying for its spending through loans, as the ruling party debates using the institution to fund infrastructure and development. “We do not think it is prudent to finance government directly,” Kuben Naidoo, a Reserve Bank deputy governor, said on a conference call hosted by money manager Ninety One. “It would increase inflation risks. It…

Angola in Talks With Oil-Importing Partners to Reprofile Debt

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LUANDA (Capital Markets in Africa) — Angola, Africa’s second-biggest oil producer, is in talks with some of its crude-importing partners to reprofile its debt and has joined a separate initiative to negotiate the suspension of bilateral debt payments. The move will help Angola tackle the pressures caused by the coronavirus pandemic, the recent drop in oil prices and production cuts agreed by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. Angola’s government debt is set to…

South African Court Declares Lockdown Rules Unconstitutional

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JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) — A South African court ruled that revised lockdown regulations implemented by the government as part of a phased reopening of the economy are unconstitutional and invalid, giving the state two weeks to amend them. The Gauteng Division of the High Court made the ruling earlier on Tuesday, Cabinet spokeswoman Phumla Williams said in an emailed statement. The decision applies to all regulations excluding the closing of South Africa’s borders and the…

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