Africa

  Roundup   By Antonio Guerrero   Ghana looks to diversify exports beyond cocoa After years of seeing foreign investors flee amid a plummeting economy and political upheaval, Zimbabwe may be about to reverse the outflow with its impending privatization ...

With bank stability still high on corporate and investor agendas, Global Finance magazine publishes in the October 2009 issue its annual list of the world’s safest banks.   Global Finance has published its world’s safest banks listing for 18 years. ...

THE WORLD'S BIGGEST BANKS 2008 Rank Name Country Fiscal Year Total Assets ($b) 1 Royal Bank of Scotland Group United Kingdom 12/2007 3,807 2 Deutsche Bank Germany 12/2007 2,974 3 BNP Paribas France 12/2007 2,494 4 Barclays United Kingdom 12/2007 ...

AFRICA REGIONAL WINNER Standard Chartered COUNTRY WINNER Algeria Arab Banking Corporation Algeria Angola BES Angola Botswana Standard Chartered Bank Botswana Cote d’Ivoire Ecobank Ethiopia NIB International Bank Gambia Trust Bank Ghana Ghana Commercial Bank Guinea International Commercial Bank Kenya Barlcays ...

NEW YORK, July 21, 2009 — Global Finance has announced the First Round winners in the “World’s Best Internet Banks” competition in the Middle East and Africa. This is the 10th year Global Finance has named the World’s Best Internet ...

Roundup   By Antonio Guerrero   Botswana, the world's largest diamond producer, received a $1.5 billion loan from the African Development Bank, marking the bank's largest-ever budget support facility. It is also Botswana's first loan from the development bank in ...

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) estimates less than a quarter of Africans have access to electricity, and those who do pay twice the average retail rate of users in other emerging regions.   By Antonio Guerrero   A report from ...

South Africa’s Standard Bank, Africa’s largest lender by assets, has become the first international financial institution to join the IFC’s $5 billion global trade liquidity program. The program aims to extend loans to regional banks for on-lending to importers and ...

  AFRICA IN A SQUEEZE   By Paula Green     Africa faces an uncertain future as its key economies suffer multiple setbacks and the global slump threatens to constrict the flow of investment. By Paula L. Green   Being ...

Global investors are stepping up the flow of capital to Africa’s frontier markets, according to a broker who takes orders from pension funds and insurers for $100 million or more. “All of the orders we get are to buy shares ...

Tsvangirai: Vowed to restore relations with the IMF. The African Development Bank has used its own capital base to create a $1.5 billion trade finance facility that aims to fuel trade and investment in the region. African commercial lenders and ...

Tsvangirai: Vowed to restore relations with the IMF The African Development Bank has used its own capital base to create a $1.5 billion trade finance facility that aims to fuel trade and investment in the region. African commercial lenders and ...

Zimbabwe has abandoned its "worthless" currency in favor of other currencies such as the US dollar. After years of trying to defend its near-worthless currency, the Zimbabwean government has abandoned foreign exchange and price controls. Zimbabweans will now be allowed ...

AFRICA REGIONAL WINNER Standard Bank COUNTRY WINNER Angola BES Angola Botswana Standard Chartered Bank Botswana Cote d’Ivoire Ecobank Ethiopia NIB International Bank Gambia Trust Bank Ghana Ghana Commercial Bank Guinea International Commercial Bank Kenya Barlcays Bank Kenya Libya Al-Wahda Bank ...

GLOBAL BANKS Corporate Bank JPMorgan Chase Consumer Bank HSBC Private Bank Credit Suisse Asset Management State Street Global Advisors Custody The Bank of New York Mellon Investment Bank Goldman Sachs Cash Management Citi Trade Finance BNP Paribas Foreign Exchange Deutsche ...

AFRICA     Leaving a hole: Foreign firms have shut down Zambian mines as ore prices plummet Guinea’s military leaders chose former banker Kabine Komara as the new prime minister, tasked with coordinating a return to civilian rule after last ...

Africa     Africa's airlines are looking to tap new credit lines. The Central Bank of Nigeria issued guidelines for establishing and operating credit bureaus, in a move that will support the development of the country’s credit market by providing ...

AFRICA     Manuel: Rand's slide will help the country balance its books. Johannesburg-based AngloGold Ashanti, Africa’s largest gold producer, hopes to refinance a $1 billion convertible bond before Christmas, despite current market conditions that have all but closed the ...

COMPANY TO WATCH: TIGER BRANDS/SOUTH AFRICA     Tiger Brands, South Africa’s biggest food producer, is expanding internationally, particularly in Africa and primarily through acquisitions. The company recently completed the purchase of a controlling interest in HACO Industries, a Kenya-based ...

AFRICA Regional trading groups are struggling to boost intra-regional trade flows in sub-Saharan Africa.   Illicit trade continues to flourish in Southern Africa, with smuggled goods totaling an estimated $50 billion a year. Fears of a global recession and a ...