Africa > Central Africa > Banking / Investment

Banking / Investment in Central Africa

  • Five tips for spotting overlooked African investment opportunities in 2016

    AFRICA, 2016/01/10
  • Investor uncertainty around president’s power play in DRC

    CONGO KINSHASA, 2015/12/18 With elections for a new president due in less than a year, the attempts of president Joseph Kabila to extend his term limit are aggravating perceptions of political risks in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Mining companies and other foreign investors are watching closely - and nervously. Despite marked improvements in governance and political stability over the completed few years, the Congo has from presently on to see a peaceful transfer of power since independence from Belgium in 1960. Throughout 2015, Kinshasa, the capital, and other Congolese cities have been rocked by deadly protests next Mr Kabila tried to alter the country’s constitution in order to run for a third term. His opponents accuse him of attempting a constitutional coup.
  • 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.
  • Russian bank cancels merger of subsidiary with Angolan bank

    ANGOLA, 2015/09/29 Russia’s VTB bank has cancelled the merger of its branch in Angola – VTB Africa – with Angolan bank Banco Privado Atlântico, according to the Reuters news agency, citing a statement issued Thursday in Moscow. “The two sides agreed to continue in the banking business separately due to changing market conditions,” the statement said. In early 2014, the Russian bank announced that together with Russian conglomerate Rostec it would acquire a 20 % stake in Banco Privado Atlântico.
  • IFC Supports Afriland to Provide Trade Finance Guarantees to Corporates in Cameroon

    CAMEROON, 2015/08/01 IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, has signed an agreement with Afriland Initial Bank Cameroon ("Afriland"), to enable it to expand its trade finance operations and extend additional services to small and medium enterprises and corporate clients in Cameroon. The risk-mitigating scheme will provide guarantees to local importers and exporters that alleviate trade lines limitations and related constraints within the banking community. A breakthrough initiative towards a privately-owned Cameroonian bank, the facility of up to $15 million will guarantee Afriland's trade-related payment obligations. Through IFC's world network of confirming banks, Afriland can establish partnerships with several major international and regional banks, thus broadening access to trade finance for its clients.
  • Demand for project finance spurs Gabon’s banks to get creative

    GABON, 2015/07/05 With a spate of capital projects in the pipeline, request for finance in Gabon is on the rise but the large scale of the investments means that domestic institutions are looking towards syndication and other tools to be able to participate. Gabon’s banking sector has been on an upward trajectory in recent years, following the entrance of a number of new foreign institutions over the completed decade. The country is seen as an attractive presentation for lenders, with financial penetration at only 12% and with several public works projects planned, inclunding a new marina development in central Libreville and a deep-water port in Mayumba. However, while liquidity has traditionally been comparatively abundant in Gabon, it has come under pressure over the completed 12 months as oil prices have declined. This in turn has ramifications for the ability of domestic institutions to finance the country’s numerous infrastructure projects.
  • Anip Signs Contracts Estimated At U.S.$5 Billion , Angola

    ANGOLA, 2015/04/18 At least USD 5.2 billion, roughly 50 billion kwanza, is the in general all of the 13 investments contracts signed Wednesday between the National Agency for Private Investment (ANIP) and investors. The contracts, mostly for the commercial and industrial sectors, were signed by the Chairperson of the Board of Directors of ANIP, Maria Luisa Abrantes, and businesses Organizations Ribeirinho, Hua Dragon-General Trade, Sweet Crumb, Xirong Yatai Su, Lusounu, China-properties (formerly Universal Shopping), Industrial Carliz-Equipment, Africorp-Ventures and buildings, Frulgo, Prestanto-service delivery, Adisandra & AN Group, Automatriz and pipes MM Angola.
  • Reserve Bank Sells U.S 300 Million to Commercial Banks in Angola

    ANGOLA, 2015/04/07 A total of Usd 300 million has been sold by the Angola Reserve Bank (BNA) to commercial banks from March 30 to April 2 this year, Angop learned from the institution?s website. According to the source, in the above transactions, BNA used the banking reference exchange rate of Usd=Akz 109,059. The BNA has as well released into the market Akz 9.6 billion worth of treasury bonds, of which Akz 7.4 billion in treasury bills and Akz 2.2 billion in securities.
  • Angola Reserve Bank Yields About Usd 660 Million in Foreign Currency Sales

    ANGOLA, 2014/12/09 The National Reserve Bank (BNA) sold between 1 and 5 December, this year, foreign currencies which yielded the BNA about USD 660 million, overcoming the 360 million dollars earned by the institution in the last week of November. According to the data that was published this Monday on the BNA site, the average exchange rate of reference in the inter-bank market is 101 kwanzas for one dollar, with a 0.3% variation in relation to the previous week.