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LATEST ARTICLES
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Kenyan authorities have cleared Flutterwave of wrongdoing following an anti-money-laundering case in the East African nation. Nevertheless, industry confidence in the Africa-focused payments company remains mixed.
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After years of easy Eurobond access and ramped-up Chinese lending, developing economies are now caught between rising interest rates and geopolitical tensions, making debt restructurings more numerous and more complicated. Despite some progress in inter-creditor talks, many debtor nations face an uncertain financial future.
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Tyme Bank’s experience with grant recipients in South Africa demonstrates the need to link up banking innovation to the real-world requirements of customers.
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The desire among political and financial leaders in Beijing to climb the value chain in development finance is clear. But the challenges now facing a giant Chinese state-run infrastructure contractor at Nigeria’s new deep-water port in Lekki show that this is easier said than done.
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Gains written on banks’ equity book values from long dollar positions could be quickly wiped out if borrowers prove unable to service debt at a higher exchange rate.
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As European and Chinese banks scale back in Africa to cut costs and redeploy capital to core markets, Middle East lenders are happily jumping in to fill the gap, buying assets and putting more boots on the ground as bilateral trade between the regions increases.
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South African banks’ sustainable finance challenges reflect the nation’s difficult but vital transition away from coal.
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Uche Orji is approaching 10 years as head of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, a sophisticated institution segregated into three very different funds. Covid spurred a year of outstanding market returns, but now Orji’s focus is on domestic infrastructure before he steps down next year.
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The surprise exit of Absa chief executive Daniel Mminele in April, only 15 months into the job, shows how much the South African group is still finding its way in the post-Barclays era. Mminele – Absa’s first black CEO – was seen in some quarters as losing a power struggle against an overwhelmingly white executive team. Can the next chief executive gain the authority to drive Absa’s revival?
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Emerging markets have regained some of the buoyancy lost during the early months of the coronavirus crisis, but analyst opinions hint at the difficulty of identifying which EM currencies investors should favour.
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The rand is back to pre-pandemic levels despite little confidence in the South African government’s ability to revitalize its economy.
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The BRICS economies, which between them represent 40% of the world population and 32% of its GDP, are a powerful force for the private banking industry as their economic engines drive wealth creation. But they are all distinct markets with their own unique opportunities and challenges.
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Euromoney Country RiskAnalysts can see through the economic and fiscal shock to observe a country with its underlying strengths intact.
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Unquantifiable risk as a result of Covid-19 made the complex deal unworkable.
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Experienced mobile money market participants have given a cautious welcome to Ethiopia’s plans to liberalize its telecommunications market, but warn that the emergence of new transaction providers is far from certain.
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Citi’s chief executive for Kenya and east Africa tells Euromoney how Kenya’s banks have come together to buy ventilators; how Covid-19 will accelerate the adoption of digital banking; and why the removal of the interest rate cap is more important than ever for Kenya’s SMEs.
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The fall in the oil price will benefit oil-importing countries such as Kenya, but the benefits may be lost because of the African continent's over-reliance on trade with China.
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Africa’s oil exporters are feeling the pressure after the crash in the oil price and fears of the coronavirus Covid-19, as investors pull money from international bond markets.
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The recent collapse in the oil price and Nigeria's (lack of) reaction to it echoes the way the country dealt with the crisis in 2015. Repetition of the same mistakes will only cause harm for Africa's largest economy.
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Some organizations, drawn in by irresistible fees, can’t resist working with high-risk clients – but technology might offer a solution.
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Kenyan property developer Acorn Holdings has issued a small but smartly structured bond programme, which will remove barriers to entry for local market bonds as local currency bonds retain appeal.
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Ethiopia’s IMF deal is a notable step towards addressing its external imbalances and to opening up the country’s economy.
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The bank will open a new office in New York to capture the US market in Africa.
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Kenya’s parliament passes a law to lift an interest rate cap that has hampered credit growth and economic development, in a move that may pave the way to a new agreement with the IMF.
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The Seychelles was the first country to issue a debt-for-nature swap to protect its marine environment; it was also the first to issue a blue bond, raising capital to finance sustainable marine and ocean-related projects. But can it overcome the teething problems and provide a model other island nations can follow?
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The Seychelles will need to tackle its drug problem head on if it wants to develop a thriving blue economy and pay back debt raised from the first ever blue bond.
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Automation and artificial intelligence are transforming the payments industry into one of the most dynamic sectors of transaction banking. But there are still many teething problems in an industry that has been catapulted onto centre stage.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Africa focus.
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As part of Euromoney's 50th anniversary coverage, we profile some of the biggest names that we interviewed for our May Africa focus.
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Africa has the largest number of refugees of any continent – in Uganda, many of them are economically active, while others are excluded from accessing basic banking products. Euromoney finds out how integrating refugees into the formal financial system could benefit the country.
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Commercial International Bank has opened a representative office in Ethiopia, implementing its programme of expansion into east Africa.
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Launched in January, Fuliza has already attracted more than four million customers, and Bob Collymore, CEO of Safaricom, hopes the product will reach all 21 million M-Pesa customers in Kenya.
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A recent criminal trial in London has revealed how banking negligence enabled a multi-million dollar fraud at the now defunct oil company Afren. Read on for a guide to Olivier Holmey’s feature in the February issue of Euromoney examining the errors made and what the financial sector can learn from them.
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A string of due-diligence shortcomings enabled the international fraud that sapped investor confidence in once-booming London-listed oil firm Afren – and has also now led to jail time for its two top executives. What lessons can the banking industry learn from the failings laid bare in the court proceedings?
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Telcos allowed to provide limited services, helping financial inclusion in the country.
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The two Nigerian banks’ merger would form the country’s largest financial institution, but it is somewhat overshadowed by Diamond’s troubled legacy loans to the oil and energy sectors.
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Planned changes to the country’s fintech licensing regime could halt the growth of a burgeoning market.
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Cipla Quality Chemicals’ share sale is good news for Uganda’s capital markets, but is still something of a rarity. Investors have little choice when it comes to picking stocks: government borrowing remains high and puts the focus on bonds, while family-owned businesses tend to be wary of opening up to outside investment.
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With global liquidity conditions tightening, local currency bond markets have a more important role to play in financing African governments and companies. While Ghana and Nigeria are leading the way, other markets are still in the early stages. Poor transparency and liquidity, and a multiplicity of legal regimes are holding back foreign investment.
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As the central bank awards its first new banking licences in 20 years, the big four will find it harder to justify the fees that have underpinned their profitability. The newcomers promise technology will facilitate cheaper banking services and tackle inequality.
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Following in the footsteps of Egypt and South Africa, Nigeria has signed up for a currency swap deal with China, but are swaps all they are cracked up to be?
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Even though the banking sector remains off-limits, foreign investment in other state-owned enterprises will support infrastructure development.
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The new presidents of Angola, South Africa and Zimbabwe could do better, but banks and investors will have plenty of due diligence to do when deciding whether or not and how to commit more resources to these countries.
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With the election of Cyril Ramaphosa, there is a new sense of optimism in the country. Bankers talk of Ramaphoria and hail the first signs of a long-overdue improvement in the economy.
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Oil prices and currency controls created opportunities for some banks, which reported bumper gains from FX and fixed income last year, but no one is expecting a repeat of that. Can lending keep them sweet?
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Now Mugabe is gone, one of the poorest nations in southern Africa can see the first signs of interest from international investors, but a chaotic currency regime, heavily indebted economy and looming elections are turning initial euphoria into cautious optimism.
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While most countries have adopted e-wallets and mobile banking as a result of technological innovation and evolution, Zimbabwe was forced into it because of a financial crisis.
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South Africa’s new deputy finance minister took a tough stance on corruption under former president Jacob Zuma – now Mondli Gungubele talks to Euromoney about the embarrassing Zuma years and the Ramaphosa government’s plans to turn the economy around.
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The volume of sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) FX business done electronically is growing, with the large South African banks in the vanguard.
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Despite a new prime minister and growing economic pressures, Ethiopia seems unlikely to seize the opportunity to open up its financial sector and lure more foreign investment.
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South Africa’s reputation for insalubrious dealings under Zuma makes it fertile ground for maverick short-sellers.
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Blue finance is set to take off this year, buoyed by growing appetite for investments in sustainable fisheries, conservation and alternative plastics. It’s further evidence of the influence of the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
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A former social worker from middle England has suddenly become the biggest influencer in South Africa’s stock market. He called Steinhoff’s collapse correctly. In making banking sector star performer Capitec his next target, has Viceroy Research’s Fraser Perring got it right again? Or, as the bank’s leadership insist, is he a one-hit wonder?
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Central bank governor Patrick Njoroge talks to Euromoney about the challenges of a turbulent year in Kenya and about his strategy to tackle them.
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Arunma Oteh has helped develop new financial tools to address the world’s most pressing issues – in an exclusive interview, she talks about the difference the capital markets can make and her previous career fighting corruption in Nigeria.
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As Denny Kalyalya’s first term as Zambia’s central bank governor draws to a close, he reflects on the need for IMF support, the currency and debt crisis that engulfed the country two years ago and his efforts to deliver a recovery for the long term.
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Following Mozambique's default, is it time to reassess which other African Eurobond issuers might follow suit – and what options are open to issuers – given deteriorating finances and rising global interest rates?
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Barclays’ exit from the continent shows how banks based in developed countries are either unable or unwilling to support growth in emerging markets. But for institutions with a focus on Africa, the departure of such international rivals makes banking in the region look even more attractive.
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Barclays’ ownership has hobbled some of its biggest businesses in Africa. Now Maria Ramos, chief executive of the Johannesburg-listed successor company that makes up the bulk of Barclays Africa, tells Euromoney Africa about the challenges she faces in extricating Absa and the rest of the network from the London-based group.
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Currency devaluations and swings in commodity prices have taken their toll on many a private equity investment in Africa in recent years, particularly for those who invested at the height of the Africa bull market between 2005 and 2013. These days, sponsors are picking their targets carefully, with a focus on domestic consumers and non-commodity exporters.