December 2011 Blog Posts (10)

The board of directors of GTI Microfinance bank limited has approved an increase in share capital from N50 million to N150 million for a state license.



The approval is in line with the revised regulatory guideline for microfinance banks which states that a Unit microfinance bank that intends to transform to a State MFB shall be required to surrender its licence and obtain a State MFB licence, subject to fulfilling stipulated requirements of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).…

The Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, said it has put machineries in motion to harness the opportunities inherent in the Exchange Traded Fund, ETF, market, projected to hit N800 trillion ($5 trillion) by 2015.



The NSE also listed the first ETF in the Nigerian capital market -- ABSA NewGold Exchange Traded Fund on its Daily Official List.



Speaking during the listing in Lagos, of 400,000 debenture units of the gold-backed ETF at a Net Asset Value of N2,526 per unit, Chief…

United Bank of Africa (UBA) customer deposits have dropped by more than half as customers withdrew their savings from the lender to seek higher-yielding investment alternatives.



UBA’s third quarter financial statements show the bank’s customer deposits dropped by 55 per cent to Sh1.5 billion. The banking industry’s total deposit…

Skye Bank Plc has announced the appointment of Mr. Babajide Tajudeen Agbabiaka as a non-Executive Director of the Bank. Mr. Babajide Agbabiaka is a 1973 Geology graduate of the University of Ibadan. His career spans over 30 years in the Oil and Gas industry.

He is a Fellow of the Nigerian Association of Petroleum Explorationists and holds several awards. Mr. Agbabiaka retired in 2006 as an Executive Director of Mobil Producing Nigeria Unlimited, a subsidiary of ExxonMobil. His…

The Ecobank Group last week,  launched the first-ever benchmark index to measure the performance of sub-Saharan African (“SSA”) domestic bond markets (excluding South Africa).



Paul-Harry Aithnard, Group Head of Research at Ecobank, announced the launch of the Ecobank Middle Africa Bond Index (“MABI” or “the Index”) whilst addressing an audience of corporate executives and financiers attending EMEA…

Standard Chartered is in discussions with regulators to offer Islamic banking services in Oman and Nigeria, now that both countries are revamping their regulatory environments to encourage Islamic finance, the bank's global head of Islamic banking on Sunday.



Wasim Saifi said the company, which already has a strong conventional presence in both markets, was waiting for the countries to finalise their regulatory frameworks for Islamic banking but could offer the services in Oman and…

Ghana Cocoa Board has formally mandated four banks for a new three-year commodity finance pre-export financing.The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Ltd., Barclays Bank, Standard Bank Group and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, are acting as Initial Mandated Lead Arrangers (IMLAs) in a $200 million Medium Term Trade Finance Facility for Ghana Cocoa Board (Cocobod).



The IMLAs are expected to sign the Facility before year-end.



The borrower is looking to diversify its financing…

Britain's Standard Chartered Plc will not rule out acquisitions in Africa, even as it focuses on expanding its sub-Saharan presence from the ground up, the bank's recently appointed Africa CEO said.

Standard Chartered, which makes about 10 percent of its profit in Africa, is targeting Nigeria and Ghana and aims to more than double its Nigerian branch network to 75 outlets by next year, Diana Layfield told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

Layfield, appointed…

Sun International, Africa's second-biggest casino group, offered on Thursday around $60 million for the remaining shares it does not already own in casion unit Real Africa Holdings.

The deal would allow Sun International greater control over some of its casinos, of which Real Africa owns minority stakes. Sun, which already owns 66 percent of Real Africa, said it would buy 114 million shares for 422 cents each, an 11 percent premium to the share's closing price on…

Manufacturing index 53.4; non-manufacturing index 52.9, both indicating expansion.

Amsterdam, December 1, 2011. The Africa Business Confidence Index (ABCI) for November shows expansion in both the index for manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors in Africa. The difference compared to October in the manufacturing…