The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, has launched the Nigerian National Domestic Card Scheme (AfriGo), a Central Bank-led domestic scheme card in collaboration with the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement System (NIBSS) to strengthen the national payments system and deepen the usage of electronic platforms in Nigeria. He said that the scheme aims to plug in the gap that has remained in the economy since the introduction of the cashless policy, and will integrate the informal segment of the economy, reduce shadow banking and bring more Nigerians into the formal financial services.
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Nigeria: Omolaja steps down at LivingTrust
LivingTrust Mortgage Bank announced that Omolaja resigned as an independent non-executive director and chair of the company’s Board Investment and Credit Committee, stating that his resignation was voluntary and was accepted by the Board of Directors on January 20th, 2023. He left to pursue other personal aspirations. The bank reported a 79.3% surge in net profit to N909.2 million for the financial year 2022 and expects the bottom line to hit N258.9 million this quarter and revenue N903.8 million.
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Kenya: Postbank announces new chairperson, Sarah Serem
Sarah Serem, the former Salaries and Renumeration Commission chairperson, has taken over as the Chairperson of the Kenya Post Office Savings Bank (Postbank). Serem, who also served as Kenya’s ambassador to China, brings a wealth of experience and expertise in government administration. She said she was delighted to return to Postbank and is looking forward to a rigorous three-year term. The bank’s managing director expressed confidence in her appointment and said the bank is optimistic that under her leadership, they will advance their role of offering financial services to the people of Kenya.
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Ghana: BoG regulatory sandbox invites applications
The Bank of Ghana (BOG) has opened its regulatory sandbox for financial institutions and fintech startups to test new digital business models and technology. The BOG will accept applications for the first cohort from February 13th to March 14th, with a focus on payments, remittances, crowdfunding, and micro-lending. Successful applicants will be informed within 21 working days after the application window closes.
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Uganda: Private-sector credit up, approval rate down
A government report from Uganda’s Ministry of Finance, Planning, and Economic Development (MoFPED) revealed that the stock of outstanding private sector credit grew 0.4% in November 2022 despite an increase in lending rates. The report also stated that the value of credit approved for disbursement in November 2022 was Shs1.139 trillion, representing a 50.4% approval rate compared to the 64.2% approval rate in October 2022. This was attributed to heightened risk aversion from lenders and the tightening liquidity in the financial sector following the rise of the Cash Reserve Ratio by the Central Bank.
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South Africa: TymeBank strikes retail partnership, grows footprint
South African digital bank TymeBank has partnered with retail clothing group The Foschini Group (TFG) to offer customers new financial products and services. The partnership will see TymeBank install more than 600 kiosks across TFG stores, allowing customers to open a TymeBank TFG Money account in less than five minutes, with no monthly fees or paperwork. The partnership also includes a ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ solution called MoreTyme and a personal loan program, TymeBank TFG Money Personal Loan. The partnership could expose TymeBank to more than 28 million TFG loyalty program members.
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Zimbabwe: AFC Commercial Bank facilitates remittance transfers
Mama Money, a South African fintech that facilitates cross-border money transfer, has partnered with AFC Commercial Bank to allow customers to send money to any AFC Commercial Bank branch for cash collection at 45 locations across Zimbabwe. The monthly remittance flows from South Africa to Zimbabwe range between $30 to $60 million US dollars, but the cost of sending money can significantly reduce the impact that remittances have. Mama Money facilitates money transfers to over 50 countries across Africa, Asia, and Europe.
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Ghana: Stock exchange extends deadline for banks’ financial filings
The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) has approved a request by the Ghana Association of Banks (GAB) to extend the filing of 2022 audited financial statements for eight listed banks by one month, to April 30, 2023 instead of March-ending. The extension is necessary due to ongoing discussions with the government over the proposed Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP) and its impact on the assessment of expected credit losses and their impact on 2022 financial statements. Stress tests are currently being conducted by financial sector regulators to estimate the potential impact of the DDEP on various industry players.
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Ghana: Gov’t, banks agree on terms of debt exchange
The Government of Ghana and the Ghana Association of Banks (GAB) have made progress on the terms of participation of Banks in the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP). This includes an agreement to pay a 5% coupon for 2023, a single coupon rate for each of the 12 new bonds resulting in an effective coupon rate of 9%, clarity on the operational framework, terms of access to the Ghana Financial Stability Fund, and removal of clauses that allow the Republic to vary the terms of the exchange. The agreement must be individually approved by member banks and should not be later than January 30th.
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Ethiopia: Omo Bank continues growth
Omo Bank, which transitioned from a micro finance institution to a bank in June 2020, has grossed Birr 77 million in profit over the past six months, with a capital of Birr 12 billion and 232 branches. The bank is opening branches in various regions of Ethiopia to expand its reach.
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Nigeria: Access Bank launches new five-year plan
Access Holdings has unveiled a five-year plan to expand Nigeria’s biggest lender, Access Bank, into other markets including France, Hong Kong, Malta, Dubai, Lebanon, China, and Mumbai by 2027. The bank plans to expand its retail banking business into a digital sales and service provider by 2027, and is targeting to increase its customer base by an additional 125 million by 2027, with 100 million of those customers being retail clients.
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South Africa: Gov’t explores launch of public housing bank
The South African government is looking at launching a housing bank to provide loans to public sector employees, and the “gap market” people who earn too much to get RDP houses and too little to get mortgages from banks. The housing bank plans were revealed by the country’s finance minister Enoch Godongwana, who said that the government is also exploring the possibility of creating a fully-fledged state bank via the South African Post Office, which might merge with African Bank.
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Zimbabwe: FNB, others bid on StanChart Zimbabwe takeover
THE proposed takeover of Standard Chartered Bank Zimbabwe (StanChart), the country’s oldest financial institution, has moved a gear up after five prospective investors including local and regional entities submitted their bids, the Zimbabwe Independent revealed. The London-headquartered bank announced on April 14 last year, that it would leave Angola, Cameroon, Gambia, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe, as well as Jordan and Lebanon in the Middle East.
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Ghana: Banks seek shorter maturity on debt swap
Ghanaian banks are seeking to shorten the maturity of local debt in a swap deal with the government, as they grapple with the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the resulting economic downturn. The banks are also pushing for a reduction in the coupon rate on the debt, which currently stands at 18%.
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Nigeria: financial infrastructure firm TeamApt rebrands as Moniepoint
TeamApt, a fintech company offering one of the largest commercial banking systems in Africa, has relaunched as Moniepoint. The platform focuses on making banking services accessible to all, including low-income households and small businesses. The platform offers a wide range of services including online account opening, fund transfers, bill payments, and airtime top-up. Moniepoint aims to enhance financial inclusion in Africa and bridge the gap between the banked and unbanked population in the continent.
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Nigeria: CBN cracking down on old naira notes
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) plans to increase pressure on commercial banks still dispensing old naira notes through their ATMs as the deadline for phasing out the old notes approaches. The Director of the Legal Services Department of the CBN, Kofo Salam-Alada, said the CBN is issuing new naira notes daily and has a monitoring team checking banks and ATMs. The deadline for the old naira notes of N200, N500 and N1000 to be legal tender is January 31.
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Stanbic IBTC Bank Tops Retail, Corporate Banking In Nigeria
Stanbic IBTC Bank has been named the leading bank in retail and corporate banking in Nigeria according to the KPMG 2022 Nigeria Banking Industry Customer Experience (CX) Survey. Stanbic IBTC Bank holds the first position with a 73.8 CX score out of 100 in the retail segment and sustained the leading position for the second consecutive year. The bank also emerged as this year’s leader in the corporate segment with an 80.9 score out of 100 and received great feedback on the depth of their relationship managers’ knowledge in key sectors.
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More bank workers in Nigeria are committing fraud
A report by the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC) revealed that more bank workers in Nigeria are committing fraud. The report, which covered the second quarter of 2022, found that 19 bank employees were sacked during that period for fraudulent activities, a 90% increase from the first quarter of 2022. There was also a 375% increase from the same quarter in 2021. With a total of N1.17 billion ($2.5 million) lost to fraud across 24 banks in Nigeria during the second quarter, 73 bank staff were reported to have been involved in the activities, a 27.6% increase from the first quarter.
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Mambu enables South African TymeBank to launch in the Philippines
GoTyme Bank, a newly launched Filipino digital bank, has partnered with global cloud banking platform Mambu to deliver an innovative digital banking solution that aims to improve access to high-quality financial services for Filipinos. Singapore-based Tyme Group, which has partnered with Gokongwei Group to launch GoTyme Bank in the Philippines, has had a long-standing relationship with Mambu. They worked together for many years in South Africa, where Mambu powered South Africa’s TymeBank to transition into a fully-fledged digital bank.
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CEMAC sees 11.45% increase in credit provided in H1 2022
The Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) saw an increase in economic activity in 2022, resulting in a 3.2% growth in GDP and an increase in the volume of credit provided by banks and financial institutions. According to the Central Bank of Central African States (BEAC), new credit provided in the first half of 2022 in the CEMAC reached XAF 3,407.8 billion ($6.2 billion), an increase of XAF 350.2 billion ($624.5 million) or 11.45% compared to the same period in 2021. The countries that particularly animated the credit market in the first half of 2022 were Cameroon and Gabon.
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Mozambican banks post profits
The Mozambican banking sector has recorded profits of around $205 million with an increase of 28.88% from foreign exchange revaluation, 20.29% from financial operations, and 15.95% in net interest income, representing an increase of 2.2 billion meticais compared to the same period in 2021. Deposits continued to be the main and most profitable source of funding for the banking sector, with a weight of 98.02%.
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CBE expands digital offering
The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) has signed an agreement with Seregela to collaborate on payment systems, enabling customers to make payments using CBE card, mobile banking, or CBE Birr. They also launched an application that allows users to pay for purchases within a month of the date of purchase. CBE facilitated Birr 2 trillion using its digital channels in the past year and has 1838 branches and 35 million customers, facilitating 20 million transactions per month.
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Nigerian court freezes account of Polaris Bank
A high court in Akure, Nigeria has granted a garnishee order directing the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to freeze the account of Polaris Bank over a judgment debt of N2.16 billion ($5.3 million). The order was issued by the judge after an application was filed by the Ondo attorney-general, who claimed the bank failed to meet the conditions of a stay of execution of an earlier judgement. The bank was found liable for mismanaging the account of the Ondo ministry for local government and chieftaincy affairs, and ordered to make a refund and pay damages, but failed to do so.