FNB officially launches in Tanzania

First National Bank, a division of FirstRand Bank Limited has announced the official launch of First National Bank Tanzania Limited. Since commencing their operations in July 2011, FNB's operations have performed well in Tanzania and are in line with expectations illustrating the sound investment and business opportunity provided in the country. 3 Feb 2012 07:26

Africa's five major trends for potential growth

[Issa Sikiti da Silva: @sikitimedia] Population growth, rapid urbanisation, adoption of new technologies, unlocking of abundant resources and the deepening of the financial sector are the five major trends that are set to drive Africa's economic growth, Simon Freemantle, Standard Bank Africa senior analyst, told a media roundtable in Johannesburg, South Africa, yesterday, Thursday 6 October 2011. 7 Oct 2011 09:56

Bizcommunity.com

Bizcommunity launches new dedicated sectors, newsletters

Bizcommunity.com - South Africa's largest online B2B publisher - is set to grow even more with the introduction of 16 new content channels, with weekly newsletters, as from last week Tuesday, 20 September 2011. 20 Sep 2011 15:45

Mobile: 'world-first' virtual payment card launches in Kenya

NAIROBI, KENYA: Airtel Africa, Standard Chartered Bank and MasterCard have rolled out what is claimed to be the world's first virtual payment card on a mobile phone. 15 Sep 2011 09:37

African Banker Awards shorlist announced

The African Banker Awards have released the shortlist of nominees for the 2011 competition. The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on the 23rd September in Washington DC, during the World Bank/IMF meetings. 26 Aug 2011 10:58

Gulf African Bank to host Islamic Finance Conference

Gulf African Bank will host the third East and Central African Islamic Finance Conference on 28-29 March 2011 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Nairobi. 23 Mar 2011 10:44

SMS becomes a business, healthcare tool

[Jennigay Coetzer] SMS is used more in customer relationship management (CRM) in developing countries like SA than in other markets because more individuals have cellphones than internet access. 17 Mar 2011 13:40

Unemployment, inflation worries hit consumer confidence

NEW YORK, US: Consumer confidence fell in 25 out of 52 countries in Q4 2010 as hope for a global economic recovery evaporated at the end of last year, according to the latest edition of the Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index, which tracks consumer confidence, major concerns and spending intentions among online consumers. 27 Jan 2011 11:00

Getting the banking model right

[Larry Claasen] It's two steps forward and one step back in the process of getting the business model right for cellphone banking. 28 Dec 2010 11:01

New green African financing projects

Following a successful second round of fundraising for Africa's green economy, held 4 November 2010, the African Carbon Asset Development Facility (ACAD) announced seven green financing projects. It convened the African Bankers' Carbon Finance and Investment Forum in association with the UNEP Finance Initiative (UNEP FI) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA). 5 Nov 2010 09:35

Sustained business recovery on the cards as companies look to re-start investment

LONDON, UK: The latest Global Business Outlook Survey from KPMG International suggests that businesses are ready to begin investing again as the healthy optimism recorded earlier in the year holds firm. Overall, business optimism remains static but strong, with India and China leading the way; while UK and Spain are still less confident. 3 Aug 2010 12:20

Will mobile banking change the banking landscape in SA?

[Simon Russell] Twelve years ago the retail banking industry thought the end of 'bricks-and-mortar banking' era was close, with the introduction of mainstream internet banking. However, this did not materialise as banks in their quest to differentiate, realised the value of the branch in the selling process and its necessity for customer acquisition and authentication. 14 Jul 2010 08:53

Islamic banking in Tanzania

Absa has launched Islamic banking in Tanzania through its subsidiary the National Bank of Commerce (NBC), in line with its strategy of expanding its offering in Africa. It will offer the options of a cheque account and saving account with an embedded funeral plan. Christo de Vries, NBC's MD, said this new service is part of its business banking strategy to provide innovative products to meet the needs of the market. Though this service will mostly appeal to our Muslim clientele, it is open to everyone regardless of their faith. 4 May 2010 10:27

WesBank, Babcock in financing alliance

Babcock International, a leading supplier to the energy, process, mining and construction industries in Africa, has partnered with South Africa's leading vehicle and capital equipment finance company, WesBank. The alliance represents a significant extension to the existing Babcock product offering and will allow the structuring of finance packages to meet individual customers' needs. 20 Apr 2010 09:40