Category: Africa
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S.A close to launch of challenger to “big four” banks
South Africa is close to spinning a state-owned bank out of its postal service that will lend to the country’s poor and distribute welfare grants, in a bid to loosen the grip of private sector banks. Financial services, the largest sector of the South African economy at 20 percent of nominal GDP, have long been…
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Technocrat behind Kenya’s cashless platforms retires
The man credited with setting up Kenya’s globally acclaimed cashless regime, Stephen Mwaura Nduati, on Monday retired from the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) at 60. Mr Nduati was head of the national payments system for more than a decade with the highlight of his career being the integration of mobile money platform M-Pesa into…
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Zimbabwe: Mangundya Must Resign Over Bond Notes Failure – Pressure Groups
CIVIL society movements have demanded the immediate resignation of Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Governor, John Mangudya over the failure of bond notes to ease the country’s cash crisis. Addressing a press conference in Harare Tuesday, spokesperson for the organisations, Pastor Evan Mawarire of This Flag movement, said Mangudya had promised to resign if the bond…
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Zimbabwe: Chinese Firm to Set Up Assembly Plant in Zim
One of the world’s leading automotive manufacturing companies, FAW Group Corporation is in the initial stages of setting up a vehicle assembly plant in Zimbabwe this year. This planned development is expected to boost Government’s efforts to revive the country’s motor assembly industry.As part of its commitment to investing in the county, FAW Zimbabwe recently…
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Rwanda: Egyptian Envoy Tips Local Exporters
The business community should take advantage of the good trade relations between Rwanda and Egypt to create useful linkages and partnerships to expand market for locally-made products. According to Mazen Gaber Mousa, the deputy chief of mission at the Egyptian embassy in Kigali, such partnerships could help build capacity of local industrialists and boost the…
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Nigeria central bank lifts currency ban for small imports
Nigeria’s central bank has lifted a ban on currency allocation for importers bringing in goods worth up to $20,000 per quarter, it said in a circular seen by Reuters on Thursday. The bank in 2015 placed a restriction on 41 items for which importers could no longer get dollars, including rice, toothpicks, cement, private jets,…
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Kenya:Flour scarcity hits retailers as millers run out of maize
Kenya is staring at potential food shortages with an acute deficit of maize flour already being experienced in supermarkets. A spot check in different retail outlets in Nairobi shows some supermarkets have run out of stocks while others are selling just one brand, meaning prices could rebound to previous highs as millers say they have…
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Kenya oil exports loom as transport deal issued
Movement of crude oil from Turkana fields to Mombasa port on road will start mid-this month after three Kenyan companies won lucrative contracts to provide trucks and oil tank-tainers. Petroleum PS Andrew Kamau said yesterday this is the final phase of the early oil export journey that seeks to test Kenya’s crude in the global…
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Zimbabwe banker to lead reforms at Shelter Afrique
Mortgage lender Shelter Afrique has picked a Zimbabwean banker to implement proposals made in a forensic audit into cases of accounts manipulation and professional misconduct at the institution. The troubled housing lender has hired Stanley Tsikirayi as a ‘change agent’ for a term of eight weeks following the exit of South African national Dave Jennings.…
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Nigeria: Again, 253 Repatriated From Libya
Barely one week after report went viral that African immigrants were being sold as slaves in Libya, more stranded Nigerians were on Tuesday evacuated from the North African country. No fewer than 253 Nigerians arrived at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA) cargo terminal aboard a chartered flight which touched the ground at around 8…