Banking

LONDON (Capital Markets in Africa) – John Flint, a lifer who rose to the top job at HSBC Holdings Plc in 2018, inherited an institution that had already seen shake-ups. In the previous seven years, 60,000 jobs had been eliminated and operations in 21 countries were sold, closed, or shrunk. Even so, the same core problem remains in the 67 countries where HSBC still does business: Costs are too high and revenue isn’t increasing fast enough. Profit in…

ACCRA (Capital Markets in Africa) – The slump in Ghana’s currency to a record low against the dollar will be temporary and doesn’t reflect the West African nation’s positive economic fundamentals, according to the central bank. The cedi has declined 8.2 percent this year, the most among more than 140 currencies tracked by Bloomberg, posing risks to the inflation outlook and foreign-investor demand for the country’s bonds. Almost all of the losses came after the Bank of Ghana unexpectedly…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – Mozambique’s government, caught up in a scandal after defaulting on $2 billion in loans, sued Credit Suisse Group AG and others in London. The lawsuit is against the Swiss lender, Privinvest Shipbuilding SAL and three individuals, according to a court document. The claim is being brought for potential breaches of commercial contracts and arrangements but the filing provided no further information. In December, the U.S. Department of Justice accused three former Credit Suisse workers,…

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…