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SSA news through Aug. 22

* The threats to Africa's economic growth due to the trade tension between the U.S. and China and the uncertainty surrounding the U.K.'s exit from the EU are "increasing by the day," African Development Bank President Akinwumi Adesina told Reuters.

EAST AFRICA

* The number of employees at KCB Group PLC fell to 5,980 as of June-end from 6,220 as of 2018-end. CEO Joshua Oigara said the decline was expected due to its digitization push, Business Daily Africa reported.

* Diamond Trust Bank Kenya Ltd. reported a net profit of 4.1 billion shillings in the first half, up from the year-ago 3.7 billion shillings, Business Daily Africa reported.

* The central bank of Kenya issued a warning against unlicensed online foreign exchange dealers and platforms, noting that such firms have inadequate anti-money laundering and consumer protection controls.

* The Kenyan Treasury has exempted the entity resulting from the merger of Commercial Bank of Africa Ltd. and NIC Group PLC from paying share transfer tax that would have been hundreds of millions of Kenyan shillings, according to Business Daily Africa.

* The Nairobi Securities Exchange Plc plans to begin same-day shares transaction before the end of 2019, according to Business Daily Africa.

WEST AFRICA

* Zenith Bank PLC's first-half group profit attributable to equity holders of the parent rose year over year to 88.81 billion Nigerian naira from 81.56 billion naira. The bank also told Bloomberg News that it plans to ramp up lending in the second half after failing to meet the minimum regulatory loan-to-deposit ratio target.

* The Ghana central bank's cleanup of the savings and loans sector could entail up to 4,000 job cuts, Tweneboah Kodua Boakye, executive secretary of the Ghana Association of Savings and Loans Companies, told Bloomberg News. The central bank recently revoked the licenses of 23 companies in the sector, citing insolvency.

* The Bank of Ghana extended the deadline for rural and community banks and microfinance firms to meet their minimum capital requirements to Feb. 28, 2020. The regulator required firms in the sector to meet a minimum capital of 2 million cedis by June 30, 2018. Meanwhile, Yaw Gyamfi, executive director of the Association of Ghana Microfinance Institution Network, told Joy Business that some member companies would struggle to meet the requirement by the new deadline.

* Ghana-based Groupe Nduom said it and its local unit, GN Savings and Loans Ltd., did not receive any official communication from the country's central bank over revoking the unit's license due to insolvency, Ghana Business News reported, citing a statement from the group which was signed by CEO Papa Nduom.

* Hoda Holdings Ltd., the parent of Unicredit Savings and Loans Co., has sued the Ghanaian central bank and Governor Ernest Addison after its licence was revoked, Joy Online wrote.

* Nigerian banks FBN Holdings PLC, United Bank for Africa PLC and Zenith Bank will each need to expand their loan books by the equivalent of about $1 billion in order to avoid heavy penalties the country's regulators plan to impose, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence calculations.

* Ghana's Securities and Exchange Commission said it is in talks with stakeholders to boost liquidity in the securities sector, including fund and asset managers, Citi Business News reported.

* Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari swore cabinet members into office Aug. 21, with Finance Minister Zainab Ahmed retaining her post, news outlets including Reuters and the Financial Times reported.

* Skye Bank PLC and Fortis Microfinance Bank PLC were de-listed from the Nigerian bourse Aug. 21 due to the cancellation of their licenses by the central bank, Nigeria's Business Post wrote.

* S&P Global Ratings affirmed the A- long-term issuer credit and insurer financial strength ratings of Nigeria's African Reinsurance Corp., with a stable outlook.

* Nigeria-based Wema Bank PLC could face legal prosecution for its involvement in processing illegal funds for Dana Air, Business Post Nigeria wrote.

* The government of Sierra Leone and U.S.-based microloan firm Kiva launched Kiva Protocol, a biometric system that links individuals' thumbprint with their identity, paving the way for the unbanked public to set up bank accounts, the Financial Times reported.

SOUTHERN AFRICA

* The net profits of six of Angola's largest banks fell 28% year over year in the first half, forcing lenders to look for new markets to boost their results, Portugal's Jornal Económico reported, citing a report in the Mercado newspaper.

* South African insurer Sanlam Ltd. expects its first-half headline earnings and earnings attributable to equity holders of the group to decline by between 25% and 35% year over year.

* Economists predict that South Africa's central bank will maintain interest rates at 6.50% during its Sept. 19 monetary policy meeting, owing to a volatile exchange rate, a Reuters poll showed.

* Zambia's central bank held its monetary policy rate at 10.25%, with inflation expected to remain on the higher end of the country's target of 6% to 8%.

* South Africa-based Standard Bank Group Ltd. will start seeing growth from its investments into West Africa after 2020 when its business in the Côte d'Ivoire finds its footing and its Senegal business becomes operational, Joel Toure, CEO of the group's Côte d'Ivoire unit, told Bloomberg News.

* South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has enacted the National Credit Amendment Bill, which would allow the full or partial suspension of payments by over-indebted clients for up to 24 months, Bloomberg News reported. The new law drew criticism from several industries, including the banking sector.

* South African insurer Old Mutual Ltd. announced that clients of Allan Gray now beneficially own 10.0018% of its total issued ordinary shares. It again fired former CEO Peter Moyo and assured shareholders that it will continue to fight his bid to be reinstated. The company Moyo in June in connection with a conflict of interest, but the High Court granted him temporary reinstatement.

* Zimbabwean Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said the country plans to issue new banknotes and coins soon to replace the quasi-currency known as bond notes that was introduced to mitigate cash shortage, Bloomberg News wrote.

* Defense lawyers for a key defendant in Mozambique's $2 billion "hidden debt" scandal, Jean Boustani, who worked as a salesman for the Privinvest shipbuilding company, were due to address a Brooklyn federal court on Aug. 22, O País reported.

* São Tomé and Príncipe's former government contracted more than $70 million in "hidden debt," according to Prime Minister Jorge Bom Jesus, who warned that those responsible would be held to account, Macauhub reported.

* The Mozambican unit of South Africa's First National Bank has closed three branches located in Zimpeto, Xipamanine and Inhambane as part of a five-year strategy, O País reported, citing Paulo Pereira, deputy managing director of FNB Mozambique.

* Fitch Ratings lowered Lesotho's long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer default ratings to B from B+ and revised the outlook on the ratings to stable from negative.

* Keabetswe Pheko-Moshagane, managing director of Barclays Bank of Botswana Ltd., said the bank has completed 69% of projects related to its transformation shift to Absa Group Ltd., Botswana Daily News reported.

Henni Abdelghani, Sophie Davies and Helen Popper contributed to this report.

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.