* TheIMF revised its growth forecastfor sub-Saharan Africa to 1.4% in 2016 and 2.9% in 2017, down 0.2 percentage pointsand 0.4 percentage points, respectively, from its last forecast in July. Thefund expects Nigeria's economy to decline 1.7% this year and rise 0.6% in 2017,while South Africa's economy is expected to grow 0.1% and 0.8% in 2016 and2017, respectively. The IMF also noted that brain drain in the form ofemigration to member countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation andDevelopment has increased sharply in the last 15 years.
*KCB Group Ltd. CEOJoshua Oigara said the lender is in talks with firms such as and about cooperating ondigital payments through KCB Fintech, the group's financial technology unit setto launch in June 2017. The Kenyan lender aims to have 20 million customersusing its mobile-phone platform by 2017-end, Bloomberg News noted.
* GeraldNyaoma, director of bank supervision at the Central Bank of Kenya, issued anotice ordering lenders in the country to revoke any additional fees on loansand stop reclassifying products to circumvent the law capping interest rates, according to Standard Digital.
* Kenyais close to signing a deal to establish a regional headquarters for theAfrican Export-ImportBank in Nairobi, Business Daily wrote. Afreximbank had signaled thatit would establish the regional headquarters in Ethiopia if Kenya does notgrant it diplomatic status by September-end.
* FidelityBank Ghana Ltd. Managing Director Jim Baiden said the lender aimsto list on the Ghana Stock Exchange within the next two to five years, CitiBusiness News reported.The board approved the IPO plan but work on the listing has yet to begin.Fidelity Bank Ghana is also on the lookoutfor opportunities to acquire smaller banks in the country, as it expects thatnot all lenders will meet higher minimum capital requirements planned by thecentral bank.
* Access BankPlc plans to sell a stake of approximately 19% in in an IPO ofthe Ghanaian lender, expected to be launched before the end of the year, accordingto Bloomberg News. The unit is looking to raise at least 104 million cediby issuing shares at 4 cedi per share, and could sell up to 32% of its shares.
* EcobankTransnational Inc. named Greg Davis CFO and finance group executive,effective Oct. 18. He joins Ecobank from Standard Bank Group Ltd., where he was CFO for Africanoperations outside South Africa.
* Audu Ogbeh, Nigerian minister of state for agriculture andrural development, said the country intends to establish an agriculture-focusedbank, Vanguard reported.The bank will be owned by the government as well as farmers and otherstakeholders in the agricultural sector.
* The ratio of Nigerian lenders' nonperforming loans tototal credit stood at 11.7% at the end of June, more than twice the 5%threshold set by the Central Bank of Nigeria, accordingto Bloomberg News. The ratio stood at 5.3% at the end of 2015.
* Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf presented twobills to the country's legislature aiming to create a regulatory framework forthe launch of a stock market, Agence Ecofin reported,citing AFKinsider.
SOUTHERN AFRICA
* TheMozambican central bank placed Moza Banco SA under emergency administration, saying thebank's financial and prudential situation has become unsustainable. Authoritiesplan to stabilize the bank and then sell it in a process expected to last atleast six months, according to Bloomberg News.
*Zambia National Commercial BankPlc named Hendrik Gezienus Mulder managing director, effective Nov.1, the Lusaka Times reported. Mulder will succeed Bruce Dick.
Padráig Belton and Mariana Aldanocontributed to this report.