SEEKING ADVANTAGE Africa: German industry urges government support for AfCFTA to cut Russia, China dependence The Federation of German Industries (BDI) has recommended that the German government throw its weight behind the African Continental Free Trade ... Area (AfCFTA) Agreement, arguing the continent is pivotal in efforts to diversify markets.
Systemic Risk Ghana: Central bank must act as lender of last resort to protect banking system Ghana’s central bank must act as a lender of last resort to the banking system as a domestic debt restructuring deprives financial institutions ... of income from government securities, economists say.
"core risk" South Africa: African Bank basks in profit jump and IPO dream, warns of power woes South Africa’s African Bank, which was on the verge of bankruptcy, is revelling in a 38% jump in annual profit on the back of 87% growth in ... retail loaning after doling out R14bn ($800m) in a year.
investment Kenya: Only best-performing state corporations will be privatised, Treasury boss says The government of Kenya will only sell financially stable parastatals through the stock market to boost activities at the Nairobi bourse, which ... has been declining for months now on foreign investors’ flights.
SEEKING ADVANTAGE Africa: German industry urges government support for AfCFTA to cut Russia, China dependence
SEEKING ADVANTAGE Africa: German industry urges government support for AfCFTA to cut Russia, China dependence
Economy booster Ethiopia: Long way to go before the country can build securities exchange from scratch Earlier this year, Ethiopia launched Ethiopia Investment Holdings (EIH), a new sovereign wealth fund, in a bid to spur foreign direct investment ... under a wider programme of privatisation and financial liberalisation. EIH has since announced its intention to establish the Ethiopian Securities Exchange (ESX).
Mineral Arts DRC: Rawbank considers lending to artisanal miners, denies gold involvement Rawbank, the largest domestic bank in the Democratic Republic of Congo, is considering lending to artisanal and small-scale miners (ASMs), CEO ... Mustafa Rawji tells The Africa Report.
Going to Slums Kenya: APA eyes micro insurance expansion, stricter motor underwriting, says CEO Nairobi-based APA Insurance is seeking to expand its business to micro insurance, which targets low-income people and has been largely under-penetrated ... in Kenya where two-thirds of its nearly 55 million population is mired in poverty.
Coupons Clipped Ghana: Bondholders may push against Ofori-Atta’s debt-exchange plan The lack of consultation is clouding prospects that Ghana can persuade domestic bondholders to accept a proposed restructuring as the government ... seeks IMF help to repair excessive borrowing.
CLINICAL STRIKE Nigeria: AXA Mansard to roll out health clinics to drive insurance penetration AXA Mansard is planning to open its own health clinics in Nigeria in a bid to encourage take-up of insurance, Tope Adeniyi, CEO of the company’s ... health business, tells The Africa Report.
liberalisation Ethiopia, a new El Dorado for African bankers? A market of more than 100 million inhabitants, where only one-third of those over 25 have a bank or mobile finance account (compared to an average ... of 58.5% in sub-Saharan Africa and 79.5% in neighbouring Kenya). An economy where one public institution, Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), alone manages 55% of outstanding credit. A banking industry so inefficient that its costs absorb 56% of its revenues, but where the return on assets is four times higher than that of Moroccan banks…
