EAST AFRICA
* The Central Bank of Kenya will likely lower its benchmark interest rate by 50 basis points to 8.50% by the end of 2019 and keep the new rate unchanged in 2020 as inflation accelerates over the coming quarters, according to Fitch Solutions.
* Kenyan central bank Governor Patrick Njoroge said the regulator expects more market-driven consolidations in the banking sector, Kenyan Wall Street wrote.
* Kenya's central bank said the merger of Commercial Bank of Africa Ltd. and NIC Group PLC would take effect Sept. 30, following its approval of the deal in August. Following the merger, all subsidiaries of the combined entity will operate under non-operating holding company NCBA Group PLC, while the group's banking business in Kenya will operate as NCBA Bank Kenya PLC.
* KCB Group PLC recorded 894 internal fraud attempts, up from 574 cases a year ago, Business Daily Africa wrote, citing the Kenyan bank's 2018 sustainability report.
* Cape Verde's central bank said two of four banks operating under a restricted authorization regime had sought to extend their operating licenses in the country, Expresso Das Ilhas reported.
WEST AFRICA
* The Central Bank of Nigeria imposed a combined 500 billion naira in penalties on 12 lenders operating in the country — including U.S.-based Citigroup Inc. — for failing to comply with its mandate of increasing their loan-to-deposit ratios to 60%, Bloomberg News wrote, citing a circular sent to the banks.
* The Central Bank of Nigeria raised its minimum loan-to-deposit ratio requirement for banks to 65% from 60%, in a bid to get banks to further boost credit to small and medium-sized businesses and consumers, Bloomberg News reported.
* Ghana's Securities and Exchange Commission enforced a six-month moratorium on the issuance of new fund management licenses as it carries out a review of the licensing regime and clean up the sector, Citi Business News reported.
* London Stock Exchange Group PLC entered into a partnership with The Ghana Stock Exchange to cooperate on developing capital markets infrastructure, the Ghana News Agency wrote.
* Ahmad Abdullahi, director of banking supervision at Nigeria's central bank, said the regulator will issue another notice to lenders after some failed to meet a deadline to increase lending, Bloomberg News reported. Central Bank Governor Godwin Emefiele previously said banks that fail to comply will be sanctioned by Oct. 1.
* A Ghanaian court threw out an application by the central bank seeking to dismiss a case filed by Unicredit Savings and Loans that challenges the regulator's revocation of its license, Joy Online reported.
* Togo's government has called for tender offers for the privatization of two entirely state-owned banks Union Togolaise de Banque and Banque Togolaise pour le Commerce et l'Industrie and will accept applications from investors until Nov. 22, according to Financial Afrik.
* Nigeria's central bank ordered financial institutions to boost monitoring on and report transactions involving individuals and entities sanctioned by the U.N. in connection with North Korea, This Day reported.
* Lawyers representing Ghanaian Finance Minister Ken Ofori-Atta and Bank of Ghana board member Keli Gadzekpo denied a claim by Capital Bank founder William Ato Essien that Ofori-Atta and Gadzekpo engaged him in 2016 over plans to acquire the lender, Joy Online reported.
SOUTHERN AFRICA
* South African asset manager Vunani Ltd. said it expects basic and headline EPS for the six months ended Aug. 31 to fall on a yearly basis by between 21.2% and 41.2%, saying the decline was mainly due to the decreased performance of its commodities trading businesses.
* Fitch Ratings downgraded Namibia's long-term issuer default ratings to BB from BB+ and warned that the country is set to record its third consecutive year of recession in 2019.
* South African President Cyril Ramaphosa appointed an economic advisory council to ensure greater coherence and consistency in policy implementation.
* South African conglomerate Hosken Consolidated Investment has set out an offer to acquire through HCI Niveus Holdco 1 Pty. Ltd. all ordinary shares of no par value in investment unit Niveus Investments Ltd. other than those held by the group and Johnnic Holdings Management Services Pty. Ltd. for 2.40 rand per share in cash.
* Sacked Old Mutual Ltd.
* Zimbabwe's central bank has been granted powers by the government to impose civil penalties on people found charging or paying with foreign currency for domestic transactions, Bloomberg reported.
* The South African Reserve Bank said the country will keep paying a high interest rate for loans it needs to address an increasing budget deficit until its fiscal problems are fixed, Reuters reported.
* The likelihood that Zambia's central bank will raise interest rates before the end of 2019 has increased after the country's inflation rate rose to 10.5% in September from 9.3% in August, Bloomberg reported, citing Mulenga Musepa, interim statistician general at Zambia's statistics agency.
CENTRAL AFRICA
* Angola's central bank kept its benchmark monetary policy rate unchanged at 15.5% following two rate cuts during the first half of 2019, Angop wrote.
* Angola's central bank is taking the necessary steps for the country to join the Southern African Development Community's electronic payments platform, Jornal de Angola reported, citing according to Edgar Bruno, head of the regulator's payment systems department.
* Recredit, the state-run Angolan bad bank set up to manage the nonperforming loans of public lenders, recorded net income of 8.44 billion kwanzas in 2018, compared with 690 million kwanzas a year ago, Jornal de Angola wrote.
This S&P Global Market Intelligence news article may contain information about credit ratings issued by S&P Global Ratings. Descriptions in this news article were not prepared by S&P Global Ratings.
