Lamido Sanusi, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)
“We encourage foreign investors to have enough of a stake to control management,” CBN Governor Lamido Sanusi, installed this summer with a mandate to clean up Nigeria’s banking sector, told bankers and potential investors gathered at a hotel in London. “There is no law that stops foreign banks owning banks in Nigeria 100%.” In June, the CBN governor indicated that Nigeria would move to loosen rules limiting foreign ownership of Nigerian banks.
In mid-August, Lamido Sanusi announced a $2.6 billion bailout of five banks, recapitalizing them, and taking government control. Sanusi cited high nonperforming loans at the banks and blamed bad management for lax oversight of lending.
The London presentation on Friday was seen as a chance for Mr. Lamido Sanusi to explain the recapitalization, reassure international banking partners, and drum up interest in the five bailed-out banks. Read the rest of this entry »
Kuwait’s largest telecommunications company, Zain, whose shareholders voted to lift a cap restricting ownership on Monday, is in talks to sell a stake in its African operations, says Zain CEO Saad al-Barrak.
Johannesburg’s public bus system ran for the first time on a week day as the government seeks to remedy a lack of planning during apartheid that trapped millions of black South Africans in townships miles from their jobs without reliable transport.
CfC Stanbic Holdings Ltd., the parent company of CfC Life Ltd. and Heritage Insurance Ltd., may separately list its units on the Nairobi Stock Exchange, Managing Director Kitili Mbathi said.
Economic growth in Nigeria, which vies with Angola as Africa’s biggest oil producer, accelerated in the second quarter as agricultural production increased, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) said. 
The capacity made available to Africa by the implementation of SEACOM seems to be gaining momentum.
