Africa’s underdeveloped economies and financial sectors have proved a barrier for central banks implementing monetary policy and prudential regulation. But recent years have seen significant progress, thanks in no small part to central banks’ growing independence from governments.
Standard Chartered already has one of the largest African businesses among banks from outside the continent, but it still wants to increase its operations there substantially in the next few years. Diana Layfield, its chief executive for Africa, tells Paul Wallace how.
Ghana has a rapidly growing economy and can count itself as one of Africa’s most mature democracies. But the credibility of its fiscal management was badly damaged last year when it posted a huge budget deficit. Seth Terkper, its minister of finance and economic planning, tells Paul Wallace how he plans to cut it.
Eurobond issuance from sub-Saharan Africa is still dwarfed by that from elsewhere in the world. But more and more African sovereigns are tapping the market as investors clamour for exposure to the rapidly growing region, where local bond markets are also developing quickly.
Having overseen rapid economic growth in the past three years, Ghana’s finance minister insists his government will maintain fiscal discipline before December’s elections. However, he believes fuel subsidies should remain in place, at least for now.
Ghanaian banks are worried that rising interest rates and a depreciating currency could lead to a lot of volatility in the next few months. Nonetheless, they remain in good health and are likely to benefit in the coming years from the country’s rapid economic growth.
Ghana has been hurt by the weakness of its currency since late last year. Yet its economy, one of the fastest-growing in the world, is still in rude health, and investors are said to be increasingly bullish about the country, even if they are hindered by shallow capital markets.
Ghana has been a bastion of stability in a volatile west Africa for the past 20 years. It will have a chance to reassert its credentials in elections later this year and most analysts think it will succeed, despite political rhetoric becoming more heated in recent months.
Ghana’s banks have benefited from a booming economy over the past 18 months, but they may have to start adapting to lower interest rates by expanding their capital markets services and offering more sophisticated products – or risk being bought out in a wave of consolidation.