Africa Finance Daily

IMF cuts sub-Saharan Africa 2012 growth forecasts
Reuters
Banks such as South Africa’s Standard Bank, Togo-based Ecobank and Kenya’s KCB have been widening their reach, increasing competition in their new markets while improving technology and expertise. “But rapid expansion of these groups may, in some cases …

KCB targets acquisition in Uganda
Business Daily Africa
A Kenya Commercial Bank branch in Nairobi. The bank is seeking to boost its presence in the regional market with further investments as part of its strategy to expand in Africa. Photo/File By GEORGE NGIGI (email the author) The Kenya Commercial Bank …

Commonwealth Council: Nigeria is Africa’s Investment Destination
THISDAY Live
By Yemi Akinsuyi The Co-chairman of the Commonwealth Business Council (CBC), Mr. Gregor Mckinnon, has described Nigeria as the investment hub of Africa with abundant opportunities for prospective investors. Mckinnon stated this in Abuja at a media …

Stable Africa attracts Middle East money
Times LIVE
A decade of relative political stability has also helped the case for African investment. “Definitely there will be more [investment] coming to Africa,” Saudi Arabian Minister for Agriculture Farad Balghunaim said. “With the clear vision building up in …

Africa and the Power of the Pivot
New York Times
The percentage of Africans who live in cities is now comparable to that in China. By the end of this year, the number of mobile phones across the continent is expected to reach 735 million. Total foreign direct investment in Africa grew from $9.4 …

Kenya tops Africa in mobile payments
Daily Nation
This is well above the average and a little more than one point behind the US, which came in at 41.5 but ahead of Nigeria and South Africa, two African markets surveyed. Kenya ranks top in Africa in readiness to adopt mobile payments , a new report …

‘Capital key constraint for Africa investment‘
Independent Online
By Reuters Raising capital is the biggest constraint facing private equity firms seeking to invest in potential projects in sub-Saharan Africa, the chairman of Egyptian private equity firm Citadel Capital said. Citadel, which has focused on the Middle …

Nigeria’s Dollar Bond Yields Advance for Third Day as Oil Drops
Bloomberg
Borrowing costs on Nigeria’s $500 million of dollar bonds climbed for a third day after oil fell below $94 a barrel in New York for the first time since December as Europe’s debt crisis worsened. Yields on the Eurobonds of Africa’s biggest oil producer …

New Africa or New Hype?
New York Times
Africa’s strongmen are fewer. There are armed conflicts in only a handful of African nations. Gender equality is growing. The long-term trend in foreign direct investment is upward, hitting $24 billion in 2010. Ernst & Young estimates that Africa as a …

NEXIM – Diversifying the Economy Through Non-Oil Export Promotion
AllAfrica.com
By Bashir Ibrahim Hassan, 13 May 2012 The portraits of economic and financial news coming out of Nigeria in recent days are blurring. The House of Representative’s probe of the country’s oil subsidy regime from 2009-2011 uncovered a cesspool of …

Informal, agric sectors set to drive bank revenues in Nigeria, other emerging …
BusinessDay
Over the next five years, banking revenues from micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria and other emerging markets will grow 20 percent per annum, from $150 billion (N23.7trn) to $367 billion (N57.9trn), with the agric and …

IFC looks to bolster African bond markets
Business Recorder (blog)
The World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) expects to invest $2.6 billion in Africa this year, nearly double five years ago, with a six-country domestic bond programme at the core of its activities, a senior official said on Wednesday.