In late October, the government of Kazakhstan offered to buy 25% stakes in the top four banks in the country, for a total of over US$5bn, through its investment vehicle, Kazina. The deal still needs to be approved by the banks’ shareholders.

Four of the top professionals in emerging markets private equity recently held a lively debate at PEI’s emerging markets forum in London, on the proposition ‘This house believes the western credit crisis is good for emerging markets private equity’.

 The participants would like to make it clear that the views expressed were purely in the spirit of the debate, and not necessarily their or their organisation’s actual view.

The GCC’s banking sector is set for consolidation, and Abu Dhabi’s two leading banks, National Bank of Abu Dhabi (NBAD) and Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB), could lead the way, according to the head of Shuaa Securities, Mohammad Ali Yasin.

Emirates NBD, one of the largest banking groups in the Middle East, has launched a £100mn ‘Hero Global Football Fund’. The fund plans to identify promising young players from Africa, South America and the Far East in order to develop their talent and then make a profit by selling players’ registrations and other economic benefits, such as image rights, to professional clubs in Europe.

Investors in Mongolia say the country’s lively but fractured political landscape is putting the economy at risk and holding back significant investments by foreign multinationals.

 All over the Gulf, women are rising to positions of economic and political power. The first ladies of several Gulf countries, such as Princess Haya of Dubai, have taken increasingly prominent roles as public advocates of philanthropy and social reform.

Nigeria’s biggest bank and a South African mass-market lender have joined hands with an American investment firm to form Africa’s single largest micro-lender, in a deal worth US$80mn, a top representative of the investors told emeafinance  in an interview in October.

Ukraine’s most recent political crisis couldn’t have come at a worse time, as banks go bankrupt and investors lose faith in Ukrainian debt.

Ecobank’s struggles in raising US$2.5bn in equity show that African equity markets are not immune to the global credit crunch.

Ecobank Transnational Inc (ETI), one of the largest banking groups in Africa, is struggling to raise the US$2.5bn it hoped to raise in a share offering at the beginning of October, in a sign that the credit crunch is making investors risk averse to African stocks.

When I step out of the lift to go into the office of Hermitage Capital in Soho, London, two burly security guards rise to block my way. For a second, I wonder if I have accidentally ambled into a gangster film, and that Hermitage has been forced to “go to the mattresses”, as they say in Mafia movies.

emeafinance has announced the winners of its inaugural Africa banking awards. The awards recognise the best banks throughout Africa, over the last exciting 12 months for the continent.
The awards generated a great response, with banks from all over Africa sending in submissions. emeafinance chose the winners based on key indicators such as market share, key deals, strategy, profitability, return on equity, and cost/income ratio.
You can read a full write-up of the awards here.
The winners are:

Former US president Bill Clinton announced in late September the launch of a new US$100mn company that he claims will be “by far the largest micro-insurance initiative in the world, by several multiples”.