emeafinance News February 2009 - emeafinance - Europe • Middle East • Africa - Three regions

February 27, 2009

EBRD, EIB and World Bank join forces to support Eastern Europe

On February 27, the largest multilateral investors and lenders in Eastern Europe – the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the European Investment Bank and the World Bank – have pledged to provide up to €24.5bn to support the banking sectors in the region and to fund lending to businesses hit by the global economic crisis.

February 17, 2009

Expats in Dubai heading home

An estimated 3,000 cars have been dumped at Dubai and Abu Dhabi airports by expat workers leaving the country after losing their jobs. Many still have keys in the ignition. It is a sign of the times in credit crunch Dubai.

February 17, 2009

Western pressure mounts on DRC ‘mega-deal’ with China

Western donors are putting pressure on the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to renegotiate the terms of the US$9bn minerals-for-infrastructure contract signed with China last year, according to widespread reports in early February.

February 17, 2009

Kazakhstan devalues, nationalises biggest banks

The banking system in Kazakhstan has been hit hard in the first quarter of 2009. The Kazakh government has nationalised two of the top four banks, BTA Bank and Alliance Bank; part-nationalised Kazkommerzbank and Halyk Bank; and devalued the tenge by 18%, which will put further pressure on the heavily-indebted banking sector.

February 17, 2009

Roubini: ‘It is time to nationalise the banks’

The pessimistic predictions of Nouriel Roubini, professor at NYU Stern Business School and founder of RGE Monitor, have been proved uncannily accurate. Here, he says that the US and UK banking sectors are mainly insolvent, and that rather than propping up ‘zombie banks’, it may soon be time to nationalise most of the sector.

February 17, 2009

Eastern Europe turns to Blackstone for restructuring advice

The worse situation in Eastern Europe, the better things seem to go for Blackstone’s European advisory team. In the last few weeks, it has won mandates advising the government of Ukraine and Latvia’s Parex banka on two of the biggest restructurings the CEE region has ever seen, and it is about to win another major restructuring mandate, rumoured to be with the government of Kazakhstan.

February 17, 2009

Overcoming Africa’s aid crisis

Dambisa Moyo, a former economist at Goldman Sachs and now independent consultant and author, says the US$1tn that the West has given to Africa in aid over the last 30 years has been wasted, and that the continent needs to move to a more capital markets approach.