Barclays Kenya `open minded’ on takeovers as industry wilts
Businessam Staff
July 7, 2017
Barclays Bank of Kenya Ltd. is ready to make acquisitions in East Africa’s largest economy as the industry struggles to cope with interest-rate caps that have cut profit and curbed lending and regulators urge the industry to consolidate. “Are we open to acquiring? Absolutely,” Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Awori said in an interview on Wednesday […]
Bank of Japan buying fewer bonds without spooking investors
Businessam StaffJuly 6, 2017
The European Central Bank is now wrestling with a problem facing monetary policy makers around the western world—dialing back stimulus without upending financial markets. But one central bank has been quietly balancing this act since late last year, buying fewer bonds without spooking investors: the Bank of Japan, reports Wall Street Journal (WSJ) On Thursday, […]
Foreign buyers drive Russian M&A volumes, Deutsche top adviser
Businessam StaffJuly 6, 2017
Russian acquisitions by overseas buyers have hit their highest level since before sanctions were imposed in 2014, Thomson Reuters data shows, with a renewed willingness to do business with Moscow. Inbound merger and acquisition (M&A) volumes total $4.6 billion in 2017, almost triple the $1.6 billion seen for the same period in 2016 and the […]
AFC signs US$28 million subordinated loan agreement with Tunisian oil firm
Businessam StaffJuly 4, 2017
Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), a leading pan-African multilateral development finance institution and project developer, has announced its provision of a US$28 million subordinated loan facility for the development of an offshore oil project in Tunisia. The beneficiary of the loan, Topic SA’s (Topic) Halk El Menzel offshore oil concession block (The Helm Project) is in […]
Nigeria central bank pumps N195m into FX market, issues new guidelines on unutilised forex
Businessam StaffJuly 4, 2017
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Monday injected a total sum of $195 million into various segments of the foreign exchange market just as it released new rules to ameliorate the challenges in returning naira to banks for unutilised foreign exchange. A breakdown of figures released by the CBN showed that the sum of $100 […]
Strong risk profile, retail strategy, cost efficiency earn Access Bank higher Agusto rating
Businessam StaffJuly 3, 2017
An aggressive new retail banking push aimed at creating a savings culture in the country, along with strengthening of its risk profile and cost efficient operations, have seen Nigeria’s tier one lender, Access Bank, post a higher rating in an Agusto & Co’s review of the bank’s financial and market position. The rating agency upgraded […]
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire to become BofA’s top shareholder after share swap
Businessam StaffJune 30, 2017
Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) will swap its preferred shares in Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) into common shares worth about $17 billion, making it the biggest shareholder of lender. Berkshire said on Friday it would exercise its warrants for 700 million common shares of Bank of America following a dividend increase by the […]
Nigerian insurers to earn more as motor insurance portal comes live July 1 Â
Businessam StaffJune 30, 2017
The insurance industry in Nigeria is expected to have a reverse in its fortunes with the unveiling of a digital portal on July 1, 2017, which will help underwriters check against adulteration of motor insurance certificates. Nigeria, which has the highest concentration of motor vehicles in Africa, is said to be losing millions of naira […]
Nigeria insurers see premium income rise 22% to N380bn in 2016
Kelvin EgerueJune 29, 2017
Nigerian insurers saw their total gross premium income rise 22.2 percent to N380 billion in 2016, despite a wave of insurgency in the north east of the country, fall in global oil prices and a generally challenging business environment, the umbrella body of insurers, the Nigerian Insurance Association (NIA), said Thursday in Lagos. A combined […]
Nigeria’s currency futures market volumes drop on rate convergence
Businessam StaffJune 26, 2017
The recent improvements in foreign currency liquidity at the Nigerian foreign exchange market have ironically affected volumes at the nations’ currency futures market, according to financial analysts and data obtained by Businessamlive. Findings reveal that the volume of trade in the Nigerian currency futures market has dropped dramatically since the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) […]