Deals
Banks Failing Coast to Coast Show Spreading Africa Distress
- Ugandan bank collapse adds to problems from Nigeria to Zambia
- Atlas Mara may have ended up with bad asset, Exotix says
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African banks are sinking deeper into trouble. Drowning in bad debt and swamped by slowing economies, more and more of the continent’s lenders are starting to fail.
The collapse of a Ugandan bank, said to be an acquisition target of Bob Diamond’s Atlas Mara Ltd., is adding to woes stalking the industry from Mozambique to Nigeria. High interest rates, soaring levels of unpaid loans and low commodity prices are just some of the factors felling banks as growth across the world’s poorest continent stutters.