Sub-Saharan African markets are attracting interest from foreign fund managers seeking to diversify risks in their global portfolio. Andre DeSimone, Executive Director at Kestrel Capital tells us why Africa’s stock markets continue to perform remarkably well despite their small size and low liquidity.
The global financial crisis affected African markets resulting in, among other problems, the drying up of credit lines. What is the status now?
As Africa’s financial system was not highly integrated with America’s or Europe’s, it was not so heavily impacted by the global financial crisis. Also, most African countries never experienced the sort of financial, real estate, or consumer leverage that was experienced in the US and Europe, for example. Aside from a few Nigerian banks, generally the banking systems in Africa weathered the storm quite well. In fact, in Kenya, no major bank suffered badly and many, if not most, continued to record positive earnings growth over the past year. So while the days of easy credit may be gone, in places like Kenya credit is still available to creditworthy clients and real estate development continues briskly. Read the rest of this entry »
Kenyan banks have posted their results for the third quarter and, apart from a few exceptions, are expected to post modest profit growth for 2009 as a whole. Following are key facts about Kenyan banks:
* The latest foreign bank to pitch its tent in Kenya is Nigeria’s United Bank for Africa (UBA).
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.
The rising cost of living and waning confidence of local investors in the Kenyan stock market have triggered major re-alignments at the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE), and appears to have put foreigners in control of trading volumes.
KenCall, a Kenyan call center company, is planning an initial public offering (IPO) on the Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) or the London Stock Exchange (LSE) in 2011 to expand its operations in Africa.
“We want to become the pre-dominant player in sub-Saharan Africa and then go global,” Nicholas Nesbitt said. The company aims to generate sales of $10 million this year, Nesbitt said. 
Shelter Afrique, a Nairobi-based housing development company, plans to sell KES 1 billion (USD 13 million) of three-year bonds to fund new projects. Securities worth KES 700 million will be sold by July 27 and the balance by September, Deputy Managing Director Mazi Ositadinma Okonkwo said. The notes will trade on the Fixed Income Securities Market segment of the Nairobi Stock Exchange, the Capital Markets Authority (CMA), which granted approval for the sale of the notes, said yesterday.
Kenya’s Nairobi Stock Exchange (NSE) has postponed a plan for a common trading platform with East African neighbors, Uganda and Tanzania, because of the economic slowdown, the NSE’s Chief Executive Officer, Peter Mwangi, said on Wednesday.
