Policy & Government
SWOT Analysis: Nigeria
A closer look at the major strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats influencing the investment and debt capital markets climate in Nigeria
30 Jun 2017
Africa Credit Markets Brief: June 16 – June 29
South African lawmakers rebuff watchdog on CB mandate shift – Sibanye Gold sells new dual tranche notes – Etisalat Nigeria woes deepen – Nigerian banks line up fresh bond transactions – UBA Kenya subsidiary plans to tap parent company bond – Ivory Coast sees strong auction results – Morocco delays local sukuk sale – Coral South project reaches financial close – new investment laws coming to Egypt…
29 Jun 2017
Should Indexing Remain a Business?
In constitution and performance, indexes are in large part designed to act as a mirror to the markets they reflect, with investors largely vying for ways to exploit information deficiencies and fleeting hunches to beat them. But in emerging markets, there is a huge discrepancy between the assets that compose these indexes and the actual asset class, raising fundamental questions about the purpose…
26 Jun 2017
Turkish Growth: Is 5% Too Good to be True?
Turkish policymakers finally got some breathing room earlier this month when official data unveiled that Turkey’s economy had grown at 5% in the first quarter of 2017, beating market consensus by more than 1% while raising suspicion among economists
21 Jun 2017
Is Kenya’s Economic Model Sustainable?
Kenya is a leading engine of growth in East Africa, but analysts are growing increasingly concerned about the country’s ability to keep up the pace as a toxic combination of credit growth-stifling regulations, excessive government borrowing and low revenue generation conspire to threaten its outlook.
19 Jun 2017
GCC Investors on High Alert as Qatar Feels the Heat from Neighbours
As diplomatic dispute between Qatar and its GCC neighbours continues to escalate, both sides are taking a hit amid worsening market sentiment in the region. As investors frantically survey the markets for guidance on next steps, some fundamental disagreements between the region’s powers threaten to prolong the crisis indefinitely.
16 Jun 2017
Rating Agencies: Credit Where Credit’s Due
The 2008 subprime mortgage crisis in the US, and the aftershocks sent through global markets for years on, exposed weakness in the banking sector, the capital markets, and the financial system as a whole. Credit rating agencies were not the prime target for blame at the time, but gradually, their role in the crisis has emerged. Ten years on, Bonds & Loans explores some of the failures in the…
14 Jun 2017
Does the Fate of Kazakhstan’s Financial System Rest on a Merger?
As the two biggest lenders in Kazakhstan prepare to merge, creating the largest bank in Central Asia, analysts question whether it will be enough to stabilize the country’s troubled financial system.
12 Jun 2017
Brazil: Where Fiscal and Monetary Priorities Need Alignment
The signals sent by the Planalto are that President Temer intends to dig in and fight to preserve his mandate. There is some room for this, politically and economically. Although his situation is difficult, there is no climate of “Down with Temer” in the same way “Down with Dilma” manifested. The probable reason is the gradual recovery of consumer and business confidence. The pattern of net…
9 Jun 2017
Iran’s Banking Sector on Path to Recovery Despite Sanction Challenges
The situation Iran’s banks found themselves in over the past decade, cordoned off the global markets by sanctions, would take a toll on any country’s banking sector. But as relationships with the West begin to warm, Agah Group is paving the way towards reintegration with the global banking system. Bonds and Loans talks to Mahdi Goodarzi, one of the financial group’s board members, about some of…
9 Jun 2017