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Banking / Investment in East Africa

  • Djibouti takes steps to overhaul banking sector

    DJIBOUTI CITY, 2016/06/19 Djibouti’s banking regulator has unveiled a series of reforms that seek to improve the efficiency and health of the country’s lenders, and expand sharia-compliant financial services. The regulatory overhaul, which is set to be rolled out this year, includes plans to improve operational efficiency and set up a new credit data system to help banks manage credit risk. The measures are in line with a raft of reforms introduced by the Central Bank of Djibouti (Banque Centrale de Djibouti, BCD) in recent years aimed at strengthening the position of local lenders and increasing transparency.
  • Ethiopia: Cash From Any ATM, Begining Today,

    ETHIOPIA, 2016/04/21 Depositors in Ethiopia can cash their account from any ATM even if it is not operated by the bank where they have deposited their savings. The long-awaited national switch system, ET Switch S. C., has gone operational today, April 20, 2016. Et-Switch was established in 2011 by 16 banks, with 80.5 million Br registered capital.
  • Tanzania: Govt Pledges Action As 91 Bank Customers Are Slain

    TANZANIA, 2016/02/08 Over 3,000 cases of armed robbery targeting people coming from banks which led to 91 fatalities have been reported across the country in the last two years. The Deputy Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Hamad Masauni, told Parliament yesterday that from 2013 to 2015, a total of 3,036 incidents of armed robbery targeting such customers were recorded, and left 189 people injured. According to police records, Dar es Salaam is topping the inventory with 733 cases, 65 deaths and 43 injuries, followed by Mara Region which recorded 375 cases, 11 deaths and six injuries. Two regions, Unguja South and Pemba North, recorded no case of armed robbery during the period.
  • IFC Supports Increased Access to Finance for Malawian Businesses With Collateral Registry

    MALAWI, 2016/02/08 IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, said today it helped establish an electronic registry for movable collateral in Malawi, as part of an in general effort by the government of Malawi and the World Bank Group to promote access to finance for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to foster inclusive economic increase. The collateral registry was officially launched in Lilongwe today, and will allow for the use of movable assets such as vehicles, machinery, livestock, inventory, and accounts receivables, as collateral for loans. This will increase the financing options for the small-scale business sector and individuals that lack traditional collateral such as land and buildings to access credit.
  • The Steady Growth of Islamic Banking in Kenya

    KENYA, 2016/02/08 While the political and social inter-religious relationships between Kenyans hog all the headlines - and not always for the right reasons - a quiet revolution is taking place in the banking and finance sector; the steady increase of Islamic banking in the country. And the majority noteworthy aspect of it is that the vast majority of the clientele is non-Muslim. At the same time as the concept of Islamic banking, additional correctly known as Sharia-compliant finance because its practical application must conform to the requirements of Islamic law, was initial introduced in Kenya about 10 years ago, it was taken up by only a handful of Muslim elites. Not any longer.
  • Finance Minister of the Year 2016

    NEPAL, 2016/01/10 Finance Minister of the Year 2016 awards celebrate the officials that have best managed to stimulate increase and stabilise their economy. Global and Asia-Pacific Ram Sharan Mahat, former finance minister, Nepal Ram Sharan Mahat receives The Banker’s World and Asia-Pacific Finance Minister of the Year awards for his exemplary work in the aftermath of the two disastrous earthquakes that hit Nepal in 2015 and in pushing for reforms to improve governance in the country’s ministry of finance.
  • Five tips for spotting overlooked African investment opportunities in 2016

    AFRICA, 2016/01/10
  • Economic Commission for Africa and the African Development Bank Jointly Launch Two Reports

    AFRICA, 2015/11/15 "Major economic evolution is possible in Africa and can lead to development in the standard of living but we must work on structural transformation so that Africans can benefit from their economies," declared Mr. Germaine Kambinga Katomba, Minister of Industry in the Democratic Republic of Congo during the joint launch of the Mutual Review of Development Effectiveness Statement and the African Competitiveness Statement. Mr. Katomba said Africa has improved its competitiveness and has reduced inequality and poverty but its focus should remain on transformation that will have a tangible impact on these factors. Despite the increase a lot of African economies experience, gender inequality, a fact which slows increase and productivity, persists, he said.
  • The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF)

    AFRICA, 2015/09/29 Almost 7 million Africans have benefited from a fund that seeks to boost entrepreunership in the region in 2014, according to a statement released on Tuesday. The Africa Enterprise Challenge Fund (AECF), set up in 2008, has funded projects that generated around 117 million U.S. dollars for poor households in 2014 alone, said the statement released on the sidelines of the on-going 2015 Africa Green Revolution Forum in Lusaka, the Zambian capital. The fund as well helped create 5,100 jobs in supported businesses, providing improved access to clean, sustainable energy to over 200,000 families since 2008, the statement said.
  • US private investment in Mozambique exceeded US$16 billion

    UNITED STATES, 2015/09/29 US private investment in Mozambique exceeded US$16 billion in the completed decade, the deputy minister for Foreign Affairs, Nyeleti Mondlane said Thursday in Maputo, the Mozambican press reported. “So far, 24 projects have been approved that are likely to create about 4 million jobs, involving private investors in the United States, totalling US$16 billion dollars in the oil and gas sector, agriculture, industry, transport, tourism and services,” said the deputy minister for foreign affairs. The level of trade relations is as well encouraging and both nations have recorded increase in trade, with exports of about US$62 million by Mozambique to the United States in 2012 to about US$144 million in 2013, said Mondlane speaking on the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations.