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SSA news through June 7

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SSA news through June 7

EAST AFRICA

* Kenya's National Treasury is weighing plans to increase the maximum compensation for deposit-holders in banks that collapse, to 500,000 shillings from 100,000 shillings, The EastAfrican wrote.

* The Kenyan National Treasury is also working on plans for banks to base lending rates on borrowers' risk profiles as part of a response to the cap on loan interest rates, The EastAfrican wrote.

* Equity Group Holdings PLC Chairman Peter Munga retired after 35 years with the bank, to be replaced by Vice Chairman David Ansell, Business Daily Africa wrote.

* Analysts at Genghis Capital said I&M Bank Ltd.'s increasing stock of bad loans and decreased net interest margin could result in lower returns for investors, Business Daily Africa wrote.

* African Trade Insurance Agency plans to recruit more members from West Africa, a move that could dilute Kenya's stake in the company, Business Daily Africa reported.

* Former Kenya Reinsurance Corp. Ltd. Managing Director Jadiah Mwarania filed a lawsuit against the company claiming wrongful termination and is seeking 82 million Kenyan shillings in compensation, Business Daily Africa wrote.

* NMB Bank Plc shareholders approved the board's proposal to distribute dividends amounting to 32 billion Tanzanian shillings.

* Burundi President Pierre Nkurunziza announced that he will not seek another term in 2020 elections, The Associated Press reported.

WEST AFRICA

* The Bank of Ghana is urging banks struggling to meet new capital requirements to submit merger plans for consideration before the Dec. 31 deadline, Joy Online reported.

* Ghana's central bank issued a 2.2 billion Ghanaian cedis bond and gave it to GCB Bank Ltd., which took over UT Bank Ghana Ltd. and Capital Bank Ltd., to compensate for the asset shortfalls of the two failed lenders, Bloomberg News wrote.

* GCB Bank reported full-year 2017 group profit attributable to equity holders of the bank of 234.6 million cedis, down from the year-ago 318.1 million cedis. For the first quarter of 2018, group profit came in at 38.5 million cedis, compared to 66.8 million cedis in the same period in 2017.

* Standard Chartered Bank Ghana Ltd. said Chairman Ishmael Yamson is retiring at the end of the June.

* Ibrahim Magu, acting chairman of Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, warned that some banks are on the brink of collapse due to their huge stock of bad loans, Business Post Nigeria reported.

* Guaranty Trust Bank PLC dismissed reports that Nigeria's Supreme Court ordered it to make payments to one of its debtor customers. Meanwhile, the Nigerian lender said Wale Oyedeji and Olutola Omotola will retire from the executive board, effective Aug. 11.

* A Federal High Court in Nigeria convicted First Bank of Nigeria Ltd., its Chairman Ibukun Awosika and Managing Director Adesola Adeduntan of contempt of court, Business Post Nigeria wrote.

* The Asset Management Corp. of Nigeria, which acquires bad loans from banks, expects to return to profit in 2018 after its losses in 2017 narrowed to 16.4 billion naira from 164.9 billion naira a year ago, Bloomberg News reported, citing Amcon Executive Director Aminu Ismail.

* Nigerian Reinsurance Corp. is preparing to list on the Nigerian Stock Exchange this year, sources told Reuters. The government will reportedly sell part of its stake in an IPO that is slated for November.

* Idrissa Nassa, founder of Coris Bank International SA, and Simon Tiemtoré, founder and CEO of Lilium Capital, are rivals for a 40% stake in Commercial Bank of Burkina Faso, Jeune Afrique wrote.

* Ivory Coast lenders are struggling to recoup up to 200 billion CFA francs in loans granted to cocoa exporters during the country's 2016-2017 cocoa crisis, bank officials told Reuters. Lenders impacted by the fallout from the crisis include NSIA Banque and BGFIBank Côte d'Ivoire.

CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN AFRICA

* Deutsche Bank AG intends to scale back its operations in South Africa over a six-month period as a part of a global business review, Bloomberg News reported. The German bank will cut its advisory, corporate-broking and sponsor-services units in the country but its debt capital markets, fixed-income and treasury products will be unaffected.

* South Africa's Public Investment Corp. (SOC) Ltd. dismissed speculation that CEO Daniel Matjila was about to leave the state pension fund, BusinessDay wrote.

* The government of Mozambique has resolved to nearly triple the minimum capital requirement for insurance companies to 97 million Mozambican meticais from 33 million meticais, Macauhub reported, citing Ana Comoana, spokeswoman for the Council of Ministers and deputy minister of culture.

* Bank of Zambia Governor Denny Kalyalya said the regulator signed a memorandum of understanding with its counterparts in Malawi and Mozambique to try and use the local currency across the borders, according to Lusaka Times.

* Zambia Industrial Commercial Bank, formerly Intermarket Banking Corp. (Zambia) Ltd., will open to the general public by the end of the third quarter, the Lusaka Times wrote, citing Industrial Development Cooperation Group CEO Mateyo Kaluba.

* Madagascar's president, Hery Rajaonarimampianina, appointed Christian Ntsay, the country's local representative of the International Labour Organization, as the new prime minister, following the resignation of Olivier Mahafaly, news outlets including Reuters and Daily Nation reported.

* Barclays Bank of Zimbabwe Ltd. will start operating under a dual brand in October following its acquisition by Malawi-based FMB Capital Holdings last year, The Financial Gazette wrote.

* Angola's National Reinsurance Co., or AngoRe, is set to begin its operations this year, Macauhub wrote.

* Moody's revised the outlook on Cameroon's local- and foreign-currency issuer ratings to negative from stable.

* Banque Nationale de la Guinée Equatoriale Chairman Ebe Mba said the bank is planning to open a subsidiary in Cameroon soon, Financial Afrik wrote.

Sophie Davies and Mariana Aldano contributed to this report.