Bloomberg The Board of Access Bank Plc announced the signing of a memorandum of agreement (MoA) with Diamond Bank Plc regarding a potential merger of the two banks that will create Nigeria and Africa’s largest retail bank by customers. This follows its selection as preferred bidder after a competitive process undertaken by the Board of Diamond Bank. The proposed merger …

Bloomberg Absa Group Ltd is having a hard time convincing some investors it can win back the market share lost while under the control of Barclays Plc. South Africa’s third-largest lender was once the leading retail bank with over 10 million customers and more mortgages on its books than any of its Johannesburg-based peers. Now, released from the shackles of …

ABU DHABI / WAM The investment of UAE’s banks in Saudi Arabia and Egypt reached AED87.2 billion ($23.7 billion)at the end of Q3 2018, representing 12.5 percent of the total assets invested abroad, which amounted to about AED693 billion in September of the same year. Figures from the UAE Central Bank show that the value of investments by UAE banks, …

Bloomberg Oil headed for its first annual decline since 2015, slumping more than 20 percent in a turbulent year that saw fears of supply scarcity turn to expectations of a surplus. Crude surrendered early gains on Monday and fell as much as 1.3 percent in New York, on track for the worst quarterly drop since the last oil market crash …

Bloomberg The record jump in prices in Europe’s biggest power market could extend well into 2019. Booming European carbon futures, Germany’s plan to shut some of its dirtiest plants, and low water levels after an extremely dry summer are all factors driving the region’s electricity prices. While 2018’s surge probably won’t be repeated, Wood McKenzie Ltd says average rates for …

Bloomberg Russian officials and executives from its biggest oil companies put on a brave face, even as Brent trades near 16-month lows. “The drop in oil prices hardly bother us because our budget is based on $42 a barrel,” First Deputy Prime Minister Anton Siluanov told reporters ahead of a meeting between President Vladimir Putin and big business in Moscow. …

Bloomberg The price of gasoline in South Africa’s economic hub of Gauteng will fall to the lowest since March in January 2019. A liter of 95-octane gasoline will decrease 1.23 rand to 14.01 rand ($0.97) in Gauteng, which includes Johannesburg and the capital, Pretoria, the Central Energy Fund said in an emailed statement. Diesel will decline 1.53 rand a liter …

Bloomberg Things haven’t been this bad for the world’s biggest oil stock since Ronald Reagan became president. But brace yourself, 2019 may not be much better. Exxon Mobil Corp, down 22 percent for the year 2018, is headed for worst annual performance since 1981, when US was in recession and a 20-year crude glut was just beginning. The decline comes …

Bloomberg US stocks rose, paring a December slump that is among the worst in history, after President Donald Trump reported “big progress” in trade talks with his Chinese counterpart. Treasuries slipped and oil erased gains. The S&P 500 trimmed its monthly loss to 9 percent, the steepest of the record bull market, as Trump said in a tweet that negotiations …

Bloomberg The yen is set to end the year as the biggest winner against the dollar among major currencies as investors sought out safety amid 2018’s uncertainties. The haven asset outperformed as the pound and euro faced headwinds from Brexit and Italy’s budget crisis, while the US-China trade war and plunging oil prices pressured commodity-related peers such as the Canadian …