Banking

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – You wouldn’t say South Africa was in the grips of a recession by looking at the retail-banking unit of FirstRand Ltd., the continent’s largest lender by market value. First National Bank, which accounts for more than half of FirstRand’s profit, is outshining its Johannesburg-based peers by adding customers and deposits, extending more credit to its top clients and boosting transactions through its mobile-phone banking app. A decline in credit losses as a…

NAIROBI (Capital Markets in Africa) – Kenya’s biggest bank by market value said plans by lawmakers to restrict how much the government can borrow from commercial lenders are outdated and risk infringing on the independence of the central bank. Legislators in the East African nation have proposed the measure to avoid the state sector crowding out businesses and consumers from accessing credit. Lawmakers also want to compel banks to set aside 10 percent of their…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Unity Bank Plc sold 400 billion naira ($1.1 billion) of bad loans to clean up its balance sheet as it seeks to conclude talks for a cash injection aimed at stabilizing the Nigerian lender. The disposal to Frontier Capital Alternative Asset Ltd. of the toxic assets cut the ratio of non-performing loans to near zero from almost 50 percent and helped to shore up Unity Bank’s liquidity, Chief Financial Officer Ebenezer…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South Africa’s Lesetja Kganyago has a fight on his hands to protect the central bank’s $50 billion of reserves. More than eight months after the ruling African National Congress decided that the South African Reserve Bank should be state-owned, like most other central banks, the governor said his main concern remains to protect the regulator’s independence and mandate. But also at risk may be billions of dollars in reserves and a…

JOHANNESBURG (Capital Markets in Africa) – South African banks are in talks to start a joint fund that could be used to accelerate the transfer of land to black people as they seek to protect billions of rand in assets tied up in farm loans. Lenders are wading into the racially charged land-reform debate as the ruling party embraces calls to change the constitution to allow expropriation without compensation. While the African National Congress sees the…

DAR ES SALAM (Capital Markets in Africa) – The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes ordered the Tanzania Electric Supply Co. to pay Standard Chartered Plc $148.4 million after breaching a power contract, the arbitrator said. The case that began in 2001 concerns a purchase agreement in May 1995 between Tanesco and Independent Power Tanzania Ltd., whose rights were later taken over by Standard Chartered in 2014. The agreement required IPTL to supply Tanesco…

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – The rally in emerging markets lost momentum Tuesday as hopes for a U.S.-China trade breakthrough faded. The lira tumbled as Moody’s Investors Service downgraded several Turkish banks. Stocks pared gains, and the Vanguard FTSE Emerging Markets exchange-traded fund halted a back-to-back surge on speculation that the Trump administration is putting trade negotiations with China on the back burner while focusing first on resolving issues in North America. Every major Latin American currency…