Browsing: Banks

Why is agriculture so important? The World Bank estimates that “Healthy, sustainable, and inclusive food systems are critical to achieving the world’s development goals. Agricultural development is one of the most powerful tools to end extreme poverty, boost shared prosperity, and feed a projected 9.7 billion people by 2050.

Growth in the agriculture sector is two to four times more effective in raising incomes among the poorest compared to other sectors. Agriculture is also crucial to economic growth: it accounts for 4% of global gross domestic product (GDP) and in some developing countries, it can account for more than 25% of GDP.”

Agriculture not only eliminates hunger, but its support and success will lead to the attainment of the world’s development goals, end poverty, and boost shared prosperity. CGAP, which published an article about “The Role of Financial Services in Reducing Hunger”, states that for the majority of the 1.4 …

Enhancing financial literacy is only one of the numerous ways Africa’s youth may be prepared for the future. Stakeholders must simplify financial literacy education and make it practical. Without simplified and functional financial literacy, one could fall victim to the prevailing financial challenges in a highly changing world marked by technological advancements. Improving financial literacy in Africa’s youth will help improve financial inclusion.…

Banks in Africa generally and in South Africa especially weathered the perfect storm caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is testament to their resilience and confirms the findings of a study that was commissioned in 2015 by the African Development Bank titled, “The Banking System in Africa: Main Facts and Challenges”. The report found that while Africa’s banking environment is relatively shallow and less penetrated, it is as competitive as that in other developing and high-income regions.

• Banks in Africa showed their resilience when they weathered the existential threat and headwinds brought on by COVID.
• Banking in Africa is significantly ahead if the rest f the world according to the AFDB in terms of the penetration and adoption of mobile banking.
• Banks in South Africa especially have been making money as the economy shed off its last vestiges of COVID controls.

The continent has made improvements in banking technology and …

AfCFTA will be a game changer for Africa, but its success depends on certain enablers being present. The first and most obvious impediment and an obstacle to the initiative will be mustering the political will of the signatories to implement the necessary reforms to enable its success.  This may not always be politically feasible or possible.

The less obvious enablers and the financial institutions on the African continent. Their presence and activities have a direct and strong bearing on the success of AfCFTA. One of the foremost bankers on the African continent, Sim Tshabalala, the chief executive of the continent’s largest banking institution by assets, is fond of saying that banking is a derived business. This means that banks butter their bread from the activities of economic agents.

If AfCFTA is to succeed in its quest to merge the various comparative advantages of the countries that constitute Africa it will …

• There has been a decline in bank visits across Kenya, with customers opting to deposit cash via mobile money platforms and transfer bank deposits to their mobile money wallets
• In the latest Kenya Banking Sentiment Index, Deloitte reveals that this has posed a challenge to banks, which have made significant investments in their brick-and-mortar businesses
• Deloitte recommends banks to consider leveraging innovations in technology such as cloud platforms, analytical capabilities and augmented intelligence which can generate levels of customer engagement

A new report has revealed that there has been a decline in bank visits across Kenya, with customers opting to deposit cash via mobile money platforms and transfer bank deposits to their mobile money wallets.

In the latest Kenya Banking Sentiment Index, Deloitte reveals that this has posed a challenge to banks, which have made significant investments in their brick-and-mortar businesses.

Has the rise of mobile transactions in Kenya affected …

Visa, for its part, has lodged an application seeking to dismiss the charges. In its defence, the payments platform company said that the people who posted the victims’ underage images and those who distributed and earned money from the material caused the alleged harm and not Visa, the Washington Post reports.

The company went on to argue that it had nothing to do with the operations of the websites run by Mind Geek which include adult entertainment websites where child sexual abuse videos have been featured. Since the news of child sexual abuse broke and the landmark ruling delivered by the California court, Visa has been at pains to distance itself from the lawsuit of which it is now a defendant. The company made a statement to the Washington Post where it condemned sex trafficking, exploitation, and child sexual abuse materials as “repugnant” to its values and purpose as a …

Yet for SME and corporate lending, credit decisions remain an extended process as information is gathered manually and appraised over, sometimes, weeks, to establish the creditworthiness of the borrower.

The need to abandon such cumbersome processes has recently seen leading banks adopt technology, such as our CreditQuest, to automate credit origination, and manage credit workflow, appraisals, documents, customer ratings and credit decisions.

This kind of technology draws all current and historical credit data onto a unified platform, giving the bank’s analysts a true single customer view of credits and collaterals.…

NMB is also listed on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) and has been tracking rather promising records. According to DSE daily market highlights, NMB’s closing price stood at TShs. 2,340 and the previous closing price was TShs. 2,340.

The bank’s largest shareholders are strategic partners Arise B.V with a 34.9 per cent shareholding and the government of Tanzania with a 31.8 per cent shareholding.

According to NMB, alongside its financial achievement, “the Bank has also received several awards, highlighting the growth trajectory of the institution. In 2020, NMB’s achievements led to internationally acclaimed recognition as the Safest Bank in Tanzania by Global Finance magazine, and being named Best Bank in Tanzania for 8th consecutive time by Euromoney magazine,”…

The banks themselves have little confidence in each other which is demonstrated by the absence of a real interbank lending market.

Perhaps most striking is the high degree of regulatory risk. Regulatory risk is one where a change in laws and regulations will materially impact a security, business, sector, or market. A change in laws or regulations made by the government or a regulatory body can increase the costs of operating a business, reduce the attractiveness of an investment, or change the competitive landscape in each business sector. In extreme cases, such changes can destroy a company’s business model.…

NAIROBI, Kenya, Jun14 – The African Development Bank (AfDB) has unveiled a US$463.9 million 5.5-year Kangaroo bond.

In a statement, AfDB says the transaction, which marks its return to the Australian dollar bond market, was led by Nomura and RBC Capital Markets.

The fixed income instrument, which is a foreign bond issued in the Australian market by non-Australian firms and is denominated in Australian currency, is the institution’s first benchmark Kangaroo since early 2018 and its first in the mid-curve since 2015.

It is also the largest AUD trade ever issued by the Bank.

More than 30 investors participated in the deal, with a total order book of more than A$775 million, leading to an upsize of the trade from the announced size of A$250-300 million to the final size of A$600 million.

These included a strong cohort of Australian investors, while fund managers were the major investor type.

African …