Linda Larbie's Blog (76)

The Bank of Ghana (BoG) says it is getting assistance from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to design a scheme for resolving financial institutions that become highly troubled.

The Bank said this has become necessary in the wake of the global financial crisis of 2007 that saw a number of banks in advanced economies collapse under high debt and excessive…

In the wake of keen competition in Ghana’s banking industry, the customer has now become the focal point. Financial institutions have realized there’s more to actual engagement with our sophisticated customers than what presently exists.



In this light, First Atlantic Merchant Bank Limited is repositioning itself in its resolve to provide prudent financial solutions…

It is now possible to use your local ATM card to access your account or make withdrawals from the ATMs of other banks.



But you can enjoy that service currently if you bank with some nine banks which have linked their systems to the national platform christened ‘gh-link.’…

African Bank recently selected a Z-CARD® as part of its marketing mix to generate awareness that it now provides interest free*, short-term loans to foreign nationals who are formally employed and residing in South Africa.

African Bank is the first financial institution…

Ecobank Capital, the investment banking arm of Ecobank, the leading pan-African bank, announces that it has successfully raised, in FCFA and Euro equivalent, the sum of USD 228 million required to close the first tranche of a loan syndication on behalf of Olam Palm Gabon (“OPG”).

The facility comprises a USD 20 million 10-year FCFA tranche and a USD 208 million 7-year Euro and FCFA tranche, extendable to 12 years. The second tranche of the syndicated loan is likely to be placed with…

Portugal’s third largest commercial bank, Banco Espírito Santo (‘BES’) and the Ecobank Group, the leading pan-African banking group with a presence in 32 African countries, have entered into a cooperation agreement to develop trade and investments between Portugal and Africa.

The Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”), which was signed at BES’ Lisbon…

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (“Ecobank” or “the Group”) has concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (“MoU”) with the Export-Import Bank of India (“EXIM Bank”) to promote and finance trade and investment flows between Africa and India.

The agreement will see EXIM Bank co-operating with Ecobank to explore joint trade and investment opportunities in the future across the Group’s unrivalled footprint of 32 countries in Middle Africa.

India’s trade with Africa has…

Driven by the desire to provide its customers, old and new, with the right mix of products and services that are tailored to meet their banking needs, the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has enhanced its  savings account, with reduced minimum opening balance driven by her array of cost saving e-Banking products and services.

 

With a minimum of N2,000.00, customers can now open a UBA savings account and enjoy a world of high value banking with Africa’s global bank. Christened UBA…

Ecobank Transnational Incorporated (“Ecobank” or “the Group”) has been named African Bank of the Year in this year’s African Banker’s awards, fending off competition from six other nominees to win the highly coveted prize. The annual awards, which reward outstanding talent and achievement in Africa’s financial sector, were held under the patronage of The African Development Bank at its Annual General Meeting in Arusha, Tanzania.

Commenting on Ecobank’s success, Omar…

Makhtar Diop, a Senegalese national with more than 25 years of development experience, today becomes the new World Bank Vice-President for Africa.  

Diop was previously Country Director for Brazil since 2009 where he managed the World Bank’s largest country program. Prior to joining the Bank, Diop worked at the International Monetary Fund and served as Minister of Finance of Senegal, and as Chair of the West African Monetary Union (WAEMU) Board of Finance…

To further expand its range of convenient banking services, Guaranty Trust Bank (Ghana) Limited has teamed up with Airtel Ghana Limited to introduce mobile savings account.

Named as GTMobile Savings Account, this service offers new or existing GTBank and Airtel customers the opportunity of transacting some normal banking operations through their mobile phones by linking their mobile money wallet to their GTBank account(s).

The service allows users to make deposits into their…

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and The MasterCard Foundation today launched a partnership to increase access to financial services for an estimated 5.3 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa. Building on recent economic momentum and stability in many African economies, the project will create new opportunities for economically disadvantaged people to expand businesses, gain access to cost-effective financial services, and manage risk.

Through this new…

In its new publication, Islamic Banking and Finance in North Africa, the African Development Bank assesses the state of Islamic banking in the region and explains why its use has been limited. The report considers the future potential of Islamic finance, including its possible alignment with North Africa’s development goals, particularly its ability to increase the diversification of funding sources.…

The Bank of the year will be contested amongst African heavyweights; BMCE Bank Group of Morocco, the Ecobank group, headquartered in Togo, Kenya’s largest bank in terms of customers, Equity Bank, and the biggest banks respectively in their countries FirstBank of…

Standard Bank Group has won the contract to bank yet another of South Africa's municipalities. It is Mogale City, which is one of the largest in Gauteng province.



Bongi Kunene, Head of Public Sector Banking at Standard Bank Group (SBG), says Mogale City is an important acquisition because it significantly boosts Standard Bank's position in the public sector market, especially in Gauteng province. She says that Standard Bank Group has a strong platform to grow to its desired…