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SSA news through Sept. 26

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SSA news through Sept. 26

SOUTHERN AFRICA

* A South African court blocked bank employees from taking part in a planned strike to protest against job cuts, saying unions failed to comply with rules allowing for demonstrations, Bloomberg News reported. In light of the ruling, Solly Phetoe, deputy general secretary of the Congress of South African Trade Unions, said the strike will be suspended but not canceled.

* Peter Moyo was barred from returning as CEO of Old Mutual Ltd. for the third time, having been refused entry to the South African insurer's premises again, according to Business Report. Meanwhile, Moyo, who was dislodged in June, told CNBC Africa that he intends to pursue court action to have Old Mutual's nonexecutive directors declared delinquent.

* Investec, which comprises London-listed Investec PLC and Johannesburg-listed Investec Ltd., expects its headline earnings per share in the six months ending Sept. 30 to be lower by about 15% to 18% year over year, citing challenging market conditions. The group also anticipates its first-half pretax earnings to take a £42 million hit as a result of costs related to its restructuring and planned demerger of unit Investec Asset Management Ltd.

* Atlas Mara Ltd.'s Zambian unit has reopened all of its branches 48 hours after bailiffs raided its local headquarters, Lusaka Times reported.

* South African state-owned asset manager Public Investment Corp. (SOC) Ltd. is set to acquire a stake in Liquid Telecommunications Operations SA (Pty.) Ltd. if the local fiber company pushes through with a planned IPO, Bloomberg News reported.

* Zimbabwe's central bank approved Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe Ltd.'s financing program for small and medium-sized enterprises, The Herald reported.

* Moody's raised Mozambique's long-term foreign- and local-currency issuer ratings to Caa2 from Caa3, reflecting expectations that the country's upcoming bond restructuring will slightly improve its financial health and increase the prospect of receiving aid from the International Monetary Fund.

EAST AFRICA

* Kenya's central bank approved the appointment of Paul Russo as managing director of National Bank of Kenya Ltd., Business Daily Africa reported.

* Kenya-based Koolridge Insurance Brokers sold a 40% stake in the company to Olea Insurance Solutions, a French brokerage firm, for an undisclosed sum. As part of the deal, Koolridge rebranded to Olea Kenya Insurance Brokers, Business Daily Africa reported.

* Kenyan central bank Governor Patrick Njoroge said the consolidation in the local banking sector will probably continue, Reuters reported.

* Moody's changed the outlook on Ethiopia to negative from stable, citing burgeoning risks on the country's fiscal and external positions, and affirmed the country's B1 long-term issuer and senior unsecured ratings.

WEST AFRICA

* The Central Bank of Nigeria kept its monetary policy rate unchanged at 13.5%, bucking the trend of other central banks around the world that have resumed policy easing amid sluggish economic growth.

* Ghana's central bank maintained its monetary policy rate at 16.0% but said it is monitoring future developments. The regulator said recent geopolitical tensions and loss of oil infrastructure in Saudi Arabia may put crude oil supplies at risk and cause upward pressure on prices.

* Fidelity Bank Ghana Ltd. appointed Edward Opare-Donkor and Samuel Aidoo deputy managing directors for operations and support functions and wholesale banking, respectively, Ghana News Agency reported.

* Four commercial lenders were fined by Nigerian regulators in the first half due to compliance issues. Guaranty Trust Bank PLC was fined 10 million naira, United Bank for Africa PLC and Access Bank PLC were fined 8 million naira each and Fidelity Bank PLC was fined 4 million naira, The Punch reported.

* Nigeria's Unity Bank PLC said its operations remained unaffected by a fire incident that hit its headquarters on Monday. No casualties were reported after the incident.

* Wapic Insurance Plc is seeking the Nigerian Stock Exchange's approval for a rights issue of 15,613,194,623 ordinary shares of 50 kobo each to existing shareholders.

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.