Denmark's Queen Margrethe (C) gives a toast to German Chancellor Angela Merkel (3rd L), U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon (L), China's Premier Wen Jiabao (3rd R), South Africa's President Jacob Zuma (2nd R), Mexico's President Felipe Calderon (R) and other guests during a dinner at the United Nations Climate Change Conference 2009 in Copenhagen December 17, 2009.
As the economic powerhouse of sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa has long dreamt of being a global player since the end of apartheid – and been frustrated by the fascination of so many economists with the big four emerging economies, the so-called BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, and China), to the exclusion of South Africa.
Now, however, South Africa is daring to dream again, as is Jacob Zuma, its sometimes controversial leader, who just may have found a compelling geopolitical theme for his nine-month-old presidency.
Much has been made of the dramatic final evening at December’s climate change conference in Copenhagen when Barack Obama paid a call on the Chinese delegation, only to find that a meeting was already under way between Chinese, Brazilian, Indian, and South African leaders. Read the rest of this entry »
Old Mutual Plc said its South African private equity unit is considering increasing its 1.7% stake in Oceanic Bank Plc, one of 10 Nigerian banks bailed out by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) last year.
Oceanic’s CEO, Cecilia Ibru, was among eight CEOs fired by the CBN in August last year after it had to inject N620 billion ($4.1 billion) of capital into 10 of its 24 banks to cover bad debts. Nigeria is now wooing buyers to take stakes in the 10 troubled lenders.
First Bank of Nigeria Plc, Nigeria’s largest bank by market value, said it will buy banks bailed out by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as long as they fit the company’s strategy.
FirstRand Ltd. and Standard Bank Group Ltd., South Africa’s two biggest banking groups, have both registered with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to investigate buying distressed lenders in the West African country.
The timetable for buying any of the 10 Nigerian institutions that failed an audit last year will be determined by the CBN, FirstRand CEO Sizwe Nxasana said today. The Johannesburg-based bank said it may prefer to buy one of Nigeria’s “healthier” banks.
FirstRand first mooted its African expansion plans last June while 
The most reliable route to riches in Africa once lay via politics and “public” service. No surprise, since the state in many of sub-Saharan Africa’s 48 countries controlled the principal levers of the economy in the decades following independence.
