Features | - Part 245

World | Negative Rates Risk Weakness for Lenders, Says World Bank’s Oteh

LAGOS, Nigeria, Capital Markets in Africa: Nations that have adopted a negative interest rate policy to spur economic growth face the possibility of weakening their banks, according to Arunma Oteh, vice president and treasurer of the World Bank. “We still have a global economy that is very fragile,” Oteh said in an interview in Tokyo Wednesday. “What you find where you have had the expansionary monetary policy that has been useful, what you’ve also found is…

Investment | Africa Investors Look East as Commodity-Driven Boom Withers

Posted on by The Editorial Team

LAGOS, Nigeria. Capital Markets in Africa: Investors targeting Africa are looking east, as depressed commodity prices and slowing growth in China put the brakes on a two-decade growth surge in the world’s poorest continent. Kenya, Tanzania and host Rwanda are the countries in vogue at the World Economic Forum’s annual confab of Africa’s business and political leaders that began Wednesday in Kigali. All three economies should expand at least 6 percent this year, double the…

South African economy not the second largest in Africa anymore

Posted on by The Editorial Team

Johannesburg, South Africa, Capital Markets in Africa: New data from the International Monetary Fund shows that Egypt is now Africa’s second largest economy after Nigeria, pushing South Africa into third place, according to a KPMG on Wednesday (May 11). South Africa has been known as the continent’s second-largest economy since Nigeria rebased its gross domestic product (GDP) data in early 2014. However, the IMF World Economic Outlook (WEO) released in mid-April provided more sobering GDP statistics for…

Africa Embraces the Fourth Industrial Revolution

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Kigali, Rwanda, Capital Markets in Africa: Africa should use the opportunities presented by the Fourth Industrial Revolution to transform itself into a full partner on the global stage, said Paul Kagame, President of the Republic of Rwanda, at the opening address of the 26th World Economic Forum on Africa. “Africa should not be still playing catch-up when the fifth revolution comes around, he added. Kagame called for “a continent free of pity and apprehension, a…

Investors Targeting African Banks Despite High Risks, Fitch Says

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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,…

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