A butterfly flaps its wings and a tornado results – Daily Newsletter

By Alec Hogg A few years back, I was approached by a London investment bank which needed help on assessing Nedbank. They were sworn to secrecy, but as tends to happen, it wasn’t too hard to work out their client was Standard Chartered Bank. The UK group has cash to burn. And as Old Mutual … Read more

Standard Bank: Over R2bn exposure to Chinese aluminium fraud

Standard Bank’s share price took a knock this morning as it emerged that the bank’s troublesome London operation is exposed to the Qingdao Port fraud in China. The bank is in the process of selling its UK operation to its biggest shareholder, China’s ICBC Bank, a deal which cannot come too soon for the new … Read more

Number crunchers in Africa leave investors in the dark

By Duncan Miriri NAIROBI (Reuters) – African countries’ rapid growth over the past decade may have been the envy of many developed economies, but their number crunchers have struggled to keep up. That barely mattered when investors were desperate to find a place to park their cash as more developed markets careered off course. But now … Read more

Citibank: Foreign investors shrug off Nigeria security risk

By Chijioke Ohuocha LAGOS (Reuters) – Worsening security in Nigeria has not deterred foreign investors from buying its assets, Citigroup’s country head said on Wednesday, citing $1.1 billion worth of Eurobonds it had traded for three local lenders so far this year. But any spread of attacks further south or to the commercial hub of Lagos could start to put … Read more

Kenya bombings open new strains with wary West

By James Macharia NAIROBI (Reuters) – Recent bombings in Kenya have dented President Uhuru Kenyatta’s plans to boost tourism and undermined his pledge to restore security after last year’s Westgate shopping mall attack. Travel warnings issued by the United States, Britain, France and Australia last month have sent their citizens packing, emptying Kenya’s palm-fringed beaches … Read more

African spending spree faces punishment by markets

By Duncan Miriri KIGALI (Reuters) – African economies are securing new funds through resource finds or dollar bonds but many governments face questions over how they use the money and risk being punished by international capital markets. The dash to build infrastructure, and pressure from citizens for swift rewards from oil and gas discoveries, have … Read more