Africa
Is East Africa Changing Its Attitude Towards Chinese Investment?
The recent cancellation of high-profile Chinese infrastructure projects in Tanzania and Kenya does not indicate a shift in attitude towards investment from China, writes Robert Besseling, executive director of EXX Africa.
20 Aug 2019
Nigeria SWOT Analysis: Intervention Funds Offer SMEs New Financing Options
Bonds & Loans examines the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in Nigeria - Africa’s largest economy - following a research trip to the country.
6 Aug 2019
MTN CFO Targets Capital Structure Optimisation in Nigeria and Ghana
South Africa-based pan-African telecoms operator MTN Group has been at the forefront of the industry’s transition towards data-centricity and, in Africa specifically, it is leading the region’s bid to use mobile technology to bolster financial inclusion and connect ever greater numbers of users to the internet. We speak with Ralph Mupita, MTN’s Group CFO, about the funding strategy underpinning…
1 Aug 2019
South Africa’s Credit Markets Show Signs of Recovery Despite Growth Concerns
While global and domestic investors looking at South Africa remain preoccupied with Eskom’s woes or the country’s lacklustre economic performance, many will have missed the impressive bounce-back in local currency capital market volumes after a trying and volatile 2018.
25 Jul 2019
jAs Global Superpowers Question Free Trade, Africa Welcomes it With Open Arms
The establishment of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is both ambitious and impressive, not the least of which because it created a platform for 53 heads of state across a vast and diverse continent to agree on something. But whether or not it’s a game changer for intraregional trade – or the region’s financial markets – depends to a large extent on whether Africa’s leaders…
17 Jul 2019
Growthpoint Treasurer: Internationalisation, Funding Innovation in Focus as Economy Stays Soft
When the economy suffers, real estate is often among the first sectors to feel the pinch – and South Africa, where growth has stagnated amidst a hitherto volatile political landscape, is no exception. As the country’s recent election outcome heralds renewed optimism in the economy, we speak with Dirkje Bouma, Group Treasurer at Growthpoint Properties Limited, one of the country’s leading real…
26 Jun 2019
4G Capital CEO Talks Co-opetition with Traditional Lenders in East Africa
East Africa continues to be a world leader in the mobile banking space. Consumers across the region are now able to access an array of financial products through their smartphone, from online payment services to micro loans, enhancing financial inclusion for a largely underbanked population. Bonds & Loans speaks with Wayne Hennessy-Barrett, CEO of 4G Capital, a FinTech providing a combination of…
20 Jun 2019
Off the Record in Kenya: Private Equity, Banking Consolidation, and a Blossoming FinTech Sector
The last three years have been tough for Kenyan banks and corporates. The introduction of the interest rate cap in 2016 sapped liquidity, leaving many corporates deprived of financing. But the last few years have also seen the blossoming of new liquidity pools including private equity and mobile lenders, which are beginning to claw market share away from banks, according to CFOs and bankers who…
13 Jun 2019
East Africa: SWOT Analysis
Bonds & Loans examines the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats in East Africa’s largest economies following a research trip to the region.
6 Jun 2019
Buoyed by Low Global Rates, African Sovereign Bond Sales Rise – But Debt Capacity Hasn’t
In May, Kenya became the latest African sovereign to take advantage of relatively subdued global rates and tap international bond investors for fresh funding, but a closer look at debt sustainability metrics suggest the country, and some of its peers, may be slowly running out of room to borrow.
4 Jun 2019