1
00:00:02,520 --> 00:00:07,040
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

2
00:00:09,039 --> 00:00:12,680
Speaker 2: Africa's development banks remain locked in a dispute over plans

3
00:00:12,680 --> 00:00:16,840
Speaker 2: to restructure debt from countries such as Ghana, Zombia and Malawi.

4
00:00:17,480 --> 00:00:20,119
Speaker 3: That's stump that we used to carry on the back

5
00:00:20,200 --> 00:00:24,320
Speaker 3: of our shirts. Zambia as a devoter, Zambias a devoter,

6
00:00:24,480 --> 00:00:29,880
Speaker 3: Zambia's devoter. Therefore, don't go into investigator devoting country. That

7
00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:32,800
Speaker 3: stump is getting washed off.

8
00:00:33,240 --> 00:00:36,720
Speaker 2: While the countries do deals with foreign governments. The African

9
00:00:36,760 --> 00:00:40,280
Speaker 2: banks worn being forced to take losses sets a dangerous

10
00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:41,599
Speaker 2: precedent for the continent.

11
00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:46,479
Speaker 4: We Africans are now muscling in on teletreyaders to be

12
00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:49,280
Speaker 4: held by others. That's right, you know they were the

13
00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:53,159
Speaker 4: all is coming around to save Africa. Now Africans are

14
00:00:53,159 --> 00:00:56,720
Speaker 4: saving themselves. I'm drinking much better job. This is the

15
00:00:56,760 --> 00:00:59,480
Speaker 4: syndrome of the thread. These are the last kicks off.

16
00:01:00,800 --> 00:01:03,960
Speaker 2: On this week's Next Africa podcast, we look at why

17
00:01:04,080 --> 00:01:07,399
Speaker 2: African lenders are being asked to take big losses and

18
00:01:07,480 --> 00:01:10,760
Speaker 2: whether the whole process of debt restructuring could end up

19
00:01:10,800 --> 00:01:18,039
Speaker 2: making the situation worse for African investment. I'm Jennifer's abasajab

20
00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:21,160
Speaker 2: and this is the Next Africa Podcast, bringing you one

21
00:01:21,240 --> 00:01:24,160
Speaker 2: story each week from the continent driving the future of

22
00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:31,399
Speaker 2: global growth with the context only Bloomberg can provide. Joining

23
00:01:31,400 --> 00:01:34,360
Speaker 2: me to discuss this today is Bloomberg reporter Matthew Hill,

24
00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:37,360
Speaker 2: who has been following the story very closely. Matthew, thank

25
00:01:37,440 --> 00:01:40,480
Speaker 2: you so much for joining us. This is a topic

26
00:01:40,600 --> 00:01:44,200
Speaker 2: that you and I frequently speak about. The newsroom is

27
00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:47,119
Speaker 2: talking about, and it's really on the minds of many

28
00:01:47,240 --> 00:01:51,960
Speaker 2: leaders across the continent when it comes to debt and

29
00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:55,560
Speaker 2: a lot of these countries handling the debt loads that

30
00:01:55,600 --> 00:01:58,400
Speaker 2: they have had. Before we get into the heart of

31
00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:01,320
Speaker 2: the current dispute, maybe you can explain to us what

32
00:02:01,440 --> 00:02:05,160
Speaker 2: countries like Ghana, Zambia and most recently Malawi are needing

33
00:02:05,520 --> 00:02:08,560
Speaker 2: to do about their unsustainable debt levels.

34
00:02:10,240 --> 00:02:13,400
Speaker 5: So let's dial it back to twenty twenty. Right after

35
00:02:13,440 --> 00:02:17,840
Speaker 5: the pandemic. We had a number of African countries that

36
00:02:17,840 --> 00:02:21,440
Speaker 5: had already built up pretty high debt levels that some

37
00:02:21,600 --> 00:02:25,240
Speaker 5: were struggling to repay, and then the pandemic came along

38
00:02:25,400 --> 00:02:29,480
Speaker 5: and knocked out big chunks of their government revenues and

39
00:02:29,520 --> 00:02:32,400
Speaker 5: made it even more difficult. So we had the Group

40
00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:35,320
Speaker 5: of twenty or the G twenty coming up with a

41
00:02:35,360 --> 00:02:40,239
Speaker 5: plan to help poor countries deal with unsustainable debts. It's

42
00:02:40,280 --> 00:02:44,560
Speaker 5: called the Common Framework. So in February twenty twenty one,

43
00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:49,000
Speaker 5: Zambia applied to its creditors for what's known as a

44
00:02:49,080 --> 00:02:53,400
Speaker 5: debt treatment basically debt relief, using the Common Framework. Ghana

45
00:02:53,520 --> 00:02:58,839
Speaker 5: followed in December twenty twenty two, and Malawi also is

46
00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:03,240
Speaker 5: having to restraint its debts, although it's not following the

47
00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:07,440
Speaker 5: Common Framework process. We saw this just this week how

48
00:03:07,480 --> 00:03:13,520
Speaker 5: big its problem is. Where the International Monetary Fund pointed

49
00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:19,480
Speaker 5: out that if you strip out the money that it

50
00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:25,120
Speaker 5: needs to pay creditors and other aspects, Malawi is essentially

51
00:03:25,400 --> 00:03:32,800
Speaker 5: sitting with this year negative international reserves, negative net international

52
00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:38,600
Speaker 5: reserves of about two billion dollars, and if you compare

53
00:03:38,640 --> 00:03:40,920
Speaker 5: that to the size of its economy, which is only

54
00:03:40,920 --> 00:03:44,680
Speaker 5: about eleven billion dollars, it just shows the scale of

55
00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:46,280
Speaker 5: the problem that it's facing. Two.

56
00:03:46,840 --> 00:03:49,680
Speaker 1: You've been following this very closely for years.

57
00:03:49,680 --> 00:03:52,880
Speaker 2: You mentioned dating back to Zambia and the foreign investors

58
00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:55,880
Speaker 2: that we know of the Paris Club, right, but now

59
00:03:56,120 --> 00:03:59,600
Speaker 2: there's a lot more talk about African development banks and

60
00:03:59,640 --> 00:04:02,680
Speaker 2: the raw that they're playing in this restructuring. It's a

61
00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:05,800
Speaker 2: topic of heart debate right now. Can you talk about

62
00:04:05,840 --> 00:04:10,640
Speaker 2: where a frection bank and TDB fit into this picture?

63
00:04:11,600 --> 00:04:15,280
Speaker 5: This is really the crux of where we are at

64
00:04:15,480 --> 00:04:19,360
Speaker 5: at the moment. There is a massive amount of controversy,

65
00:04:19,520 --> 00:04:23,520
Speaker 5: a lot of tension, and emotions are already running quite

66
00:04:23,560 --> 00:04:28,440
Speaker 5: high because, as you point out, we've got lenders like

67
00:04:29,040 --> 00:04:33,320
Speaker 5: the Africa Export Import Bank that has provided money to

68
00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:37,960
Speaker 5: countries like Ghana and Zambia, and of course the Trade

69
00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:42,640
Speaker 5: and Development Bank too, And while pretty much all the

70
00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:47,120
Speaker 5: other creditors to these countries have agreed to restructure their debts,

71
00:04:47,839 --> 00:04:51,719
Speaker 5: a FRECSM Bank and to an extent, Trade and Development

72
00:04:51,720 --> 00:04:56,279
Speaker 5: Bank or TDB have not. And this has now turned

73
00:04:56,360 --> 00:05:01,680
Speaker 5: into a really really big point of contention. Just to

74
00:05:01,720 --> 00:05:05,080
Speaker 5: give a very broad overview of the situation at the moment,

75
00:05:05,080 --> 00:05:11,440
Speaker 5: AFRECSM Bank, which has the African sovereigns African States among

76
00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:15,640
Speaker 5: its shareholders, it also has private creditors too, and that

77
00:05:15,760 --> 00:05:20,640
Speaker 5: bank is arguing that it is a multilateral development bank,

78
00:05:20,720 --> 00:05:23,560
Speaker 5: it's providing money to help these countries to help its

79
00:05:23,640 --> 00:05:28,800
Speaker 5: members develop, and it says it's often lending money to

80
00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:34,280
Speaker 5: these countries where others won't. On the other hand, we've

81
00:05:34,360 --> 00:05:40,480
Speaker 5: got the other side of the equation where creditors, including

82
00:05:40,520 --> 00:05:45,120
Speaker 5: the Paris Club and others are saying AFFRECSM Bank isn't

83
00:05:45,240 --> 00:05:50,400
Speaker 5: a pure multilateral development bank because it's not lending money

84
00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:54,279
Speaker 5: the same way that the International Monetary Fund does or

85
00:05:54,320 --> 00:05:58,440
Speaker 5: the World Bank does at concessional rates. It's lending money

86
00:05:58,600 --> 00:06:02,560
Speaker 5: at commercial rates mostly and often these are pretty high.

87
00:06:03,200 --> 00:06:07,840
Speaker 5: So we've now got a situation where countries like Ghana

88
00:06:07,920 --> 00:06:12,080
Speaker 5: and Zambia have at the request of their other creditors,

89
00:06:12,120 --> 00:06:16,120
Speaker 5: really told Afresen Bank and TDB that they need to

90
00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:21,239
Speaker 5: restructure their loans to these countries and offer what's known

91
00:06:21,480 --> 00:06:26,240
Speaker 5: as comparability of treatment. So essentially, at once Affrecsen Bank

92
00:06:26,279 --> 00:06:30,240
Speaker 5: and TDB to provide as much debt relief as the

93
00:06:30,279 --> 00:06:33,640
Speaker 5: bilateral creditors have. Those are the ones from the Paris Club,

94
00:06:34,040 --> 00:06:39,320
Speaker 5: plus of course China, India, Saudi Arabia and the bondholders.

95
00:06:39,320 --> 00:06:43,240
Speaker 5: The eurobondholders have also agreed to provide significant debt relief,

96
00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:47,560
Speaker 5: and they are also saying that AFFRESM Bank must come

97
00:06:47,600 --> 00:06:49,760
Speaker 5: to the table likewise.

98
00:06:49,920 --> 00:06:53,120
Speaker 2: And matt I recently spoke with Amasu Today say. He's

99
00:06:53,160 --> 00:06:57,080
Speaker 2: the president and managing director of TDB, which you're speaking about.

100
00:06:57,120 --> 00:06:59,600
Speaker 2: They're one of the banks that are involved in the negotiations.

101
00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:03,680
Speaker 2: He told me he's unhappy about the current situation right now.

102
00:07:03,880 --> 00:07:05,239
Speaker 1: Let's take a listen really quick.

103
00:07:05,440 --> 00:07:08,280
Speaker 6: I think the one thing that that's very problematic is

104
00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:12,120
Speaker 6: is the way that some of these processes have been handled.

105
00:07:12,720 --> 00:07:15,120
Speaker 6: And I think the reason it's been messy and it's

106
00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:19,120
Speaker 6: been generating a lot of noise is because you know,

107
00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:24,320
Speaker 6: the global financial process has not taken adequate consideration of

108
00:07:24,440 --> 00:07:28,280
Speaker 6: African lenders in the process, and some of these restructurings

109
00:07:28,320 --> 00:07:31,960
Speaker 6: happen and we're not consulted, We're not in the picture,

110
00:07:31,960 --> 00:07:36,160
Speaker 6: and it happens as an afterthought. Assumptions are made and

111
00:07:36,200 --> 00:07:37,400
Speaker 6: those assumptions are wrong.

112
00:07:37,880 --> 00:07:41,119
Speaker 2: So, Matt, what did you make of what mister today

113
00:07:41,160 --> 00:07:45,640
Speaker 2: Say had to say. Why is it that the African

114
00:07:45,680 --> 00:07:50,400
Speaker 2: Development Banks are so opposed to taking losses on some

115
00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:53,840
Speaker 2: of these loans compared to some of the other bigger

116
00:07:54,000 --> 00:07:55,040
Speaker 2: creditors out there.

117
00:07:55,680 --> 00:07:59,480
Speaker 5: I mean, that really hits the nail on the head

118
00:07:59,520 --> 00:08:03,320
Speaker 5: where we are at the moment. I mean, TADESA has

119
00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:08,560
Speaker 5: complained that they are only being brought into the process

120
00:08:08,760 --> 00:08:11,960
Speaker 5: kind of as an afterthought. And to be clear, TDB

121
00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:15,920
Speaker 5: has been more constructive and shown that it is willing

122
00:08:15,960 --> 00:08:20,040
Speaker 5: to engage. It is willing to talk about restructuring its debts,

123
00:08:20,400 --> 00:08:24,240
Speaker 5: whereas Affresen Bank has pretty much said that it won't.

124
00:08:24,600 --> 00:08:29,480
Speaker 5: That it has something that's known as preferred creditor status

125
00:08:29,520 --> 00:08:34,800
Speaker 5: built into its establishment treaty when it was founded back

126
00:08:34,840 --> 00:08:39,480
Speaker 5: in the nineties and that precludes it from restructuring any

127
00:08:39,520 --> 00:08:43,120
Speaker 5: of its debt. Now, these banks, TDB, Affrecsen Bank and

128
00:08:43,240 --> 00:08:47,720
Speaker 5: others have formed what they are calling or referring to

129
00:08:47,760 --> 00:08:51,840
Speaker 5: the Africa Club. That's a group of African development banks

130
00:08:51,920 --> 00:08:54,640
Speaker 5: that they've set up to basically protect their rights and

131
00:08:54,679 --> 00:08:58,680
Speaker 5: make sure that their voices are being heard that they

132
00:08:58,760 --> 00:09:00,600
Speaker 5: do get a set at the table.

133
00:09:00,840 --> 00:09:03,000
Speaker 2: Hold that thought, Matthew, We're going to take a quick

134
00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:05,440
Speaker 2: break and when we come back, we'll talk about what's

135
00:09:05,480 --> 00:09:08,360
Speaker 2: at stake in these negotiations and what they could mean

136
00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:10,160
Speaker 2: for future investment on the continent.

137
00:09:10,360 --> 00:09:15,760
Speaker 1: We'll be right back. Welcome back.

138
00:09:15,840 --> 00:09:20,040
Speaker 2: Today we're talking about the ongoing dispute between Africa's development

139
00:09:20,120 --> 00:09:24,800
Speaker 2: banks and African governments looking to restructure their debt Matthew

140
00:09:24,880 --> 00:09:27,640
Speaker 2: Hill is joining us and has been following the story

141
00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:31,360
Speaker 2: very closely. So, Matt you were talking before the break

142
00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:34,800
Speaker 2: about these African development banks wanting to have a seat

143
00:09:34,800 --> 00:09:38,920
Speaker 2: at the table, wanting to be treated similarly to other

144
00:09:39,000 --> 00:09:40,160
Speaker 2: creditors out there.

145
00:09:40,679 --> 00:09:42,160
Speaker 1: Maybe we take a look at some of the other.

146
00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:46,840
Speaker 2: Creditors like the IMF and the Paris Club here, how

147
00:09:46,840 --> 00:09:50,760
Speaker 2: do these banks differ from the role that these international

148
00:09:50,880 --> 00:09:55,679
Speaker 2: institutions are playing for these countries, going back to.

149
00:09:55,800 --> 00:10:01,840
Speaker 5: The G twenty's Common Framework that was created with significant

150
00:10:01,840 --> 00:10:06,280
Speaker 5: input from the International Monetary Fund, And of course when

151
00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:10,560
Speaker 5: we're talking about sovereign debt restructurings, it's very difficult to

152
00:10:11,240 --> 00:10:15,360
Speaker 5: avoid mentioning or talking about the Paris Club, which is

153
00:10:15,520 --> 00:10:20,560
Speaker 5: an informal group set up to help bring debt relief

154
00:10:20,760 --> 00:10:24,680
Speaker 5: to countries that can't afford to pay their debts. They

155
00:10:24,800 --> 00:10:31,000
Speaker 5: have played a very very central role in the creditor committees,

156
00:10:31,000 --> 00:10:34,640
Speaker 5: the official creditor committees of all of these countries that

157
00:10:34,679 --> 00:10:37,720
Speaker 5: are using the Common Framework to try sort out their debts,

158
00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:43,760
Speaker 5: and the International Monetary Fund has too. They provide the

159
00:10:43,800 --> 00:10:48,160
Speaker 5: economic statistics and the estimates of exactly how much debt

160
00:10:48,200 --> 00:10:55,520
Speaker 5: relief countries like Garner and Zambia require to reach a

161
00:10:55,600 --> 00:11:02,040
Speaker 5: sustainable path and that's where the club comes into play

162
00:11:02,080 --> 00:11:05,720
Speaker 5: again too. This has been formed after the Common Framework

163
00:11:05,880 --> 00:11:10,920
Speaker 5: was set up and the debt restructuring processes of Ghana

164
00:11:11,080 --> 00:11:16,920
Speaker 5: and Zambia and others began to kind of retrospectively make

165
00:11:16,960 --> 00:11:19,040
Speaker 5: sure that their voices are being heard.

166
00:11:19,559 --> 00:11:24,240
Speaker 2: What would taking losses for these banks mean, Matt and

167
00:11:24,280 --> 00:11:28,320
Speaker 2: therefore many people if they haven't seen your reporting, we've

168
00:11:28,320 --> 00:11:32,600
Speaker 2: seen some of these banks actually get raided by ratings

169
00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:35,880
Speaker 2: agencies and taken a hit recently, just given some of

170
00:11:35,920 --> 00:11:41,080
Speaker 2: these negotiations around debt restructuring. Would a loss mean lower

171
00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:46,720
Speaker 2: credit ratings and potentially affecting Africa's development down the road?

172
00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:49,640
Speaker 1: Is that sort of how we can shape all of

173
00:11:49,679 --> 00:11:50,079
Speaker 1: this up.

174
00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:54,160
Speaker 5: That's also a very tough question that African lender's like

175
00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:58,320
Speaker 5: Afrexent Bank are grappling with right now. As you point out,

176
00:11:58,400 --> 00:12:02,719
Speaker 5: we've already seen Pitch cut its assessment of affrecs and

177
00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:10,080
Speaker 5: Bank to one level above what's known as junk. If

178
00:12:10,120 --> 00:12:14,319
Speaker 5: it does make another cut, that would mean that many

179
00:12:15,240 --> 00:12:19,960
Speaker 5: investors would be forced to sell the bonds of affrecs

180
00:12:19,960 --> 00:12:22,640
Speaker 5: and Bank, and I mean economics one oh one. When

181
00:12:22,679 --> 00:12:25,360
Speaker 5: you've got more sellers than buyers, that means the price

182
00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:27,840
Speaker 5: is going to go down. And it also means that

183
00:12:28,880 --> 00:12:32,760
Speaker 5: affrecs and banks own borrowing, so the money that it

184
00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:36,959
Speaker 5: raises from international investors will become more expensive. And then

185
00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:40,280
Speaker 5: you can say, if it's financing is becoming more expensive,

186
00:12:40,600 --> 00:12:43,400
Speaker 5: it's going to have to charge more when it lends

187
00:12:43,440 --> 00:12:48,920
Speaker 5: that money on to African countries, African governments and to

188
00:12:49,760 --> 00:12:54,560
Speaker 5: African development. So the outcome of this, if it does

189
00:12:54,600 --> 00:12:58,720
Speaker 5: get cut again by the railings agencies, Yeah, it means

190
00:12:59,160 --> 00:13:03,840
Speaker 5: more expensive financing for Africa, which is already grappling with

191
00:13:04,640 --> 00:13:09,480
Speaker 5: lending costs that have gone up quite significantly in recent years.

192
00:13:09,800 --> 00:13:15,480
Speaker 5: And also just like the places where African governments can

193
00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:20,120
Speaker 5: access financing from full stop is becoming smaller and smaller too,

194
00:13:20,280 --> 00:13:23,520
Speaker 5: so it's a real problem.

195
00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:23,960
Speaker 1: Yeah.

196
00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:26,960
Speaker 2: And even you know, some of these governments spend more

197
00:13:27,000 --> 00:13:31,240
Speaker 2: on debt servicing than you know, taking care of their constituents,

198
00:13:31,280 --> 00:13:34,280
Speaker 2: and so it really has become to the forest, so

199
00:13:34,360 --> 00:13:37,360
Speaker 2: much so that South African President Zerro Ramaposa has made

200
00:13:37,679 --> 00:13:41,080
Speaker 2: debt sustainability something that he has prioritized during the G

201
00:13:41,200 --> 00:13:44,080
Speaker 2: twenty presidency as of course, you know, matt how does

202
00:13:44,120 --> 00:13:46,880
Speaker 2: this play out going forward? Do you see some of

203
00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:49,080
Speaker 2: these African banks getting their way?

204
00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:53,760
Speaker 5: Well, I mean Fitch themselves have said that it's more

205
00:13:53,960 --> 00:13:58,120
Speaker 5: likely than not, for example, that Frexim Bank will have

206
00:13:58,200 --> 00:14:02,800
Speaker 5: to restructure its debt with Ghana, and if it does so,

207
00:14:02,880 --> 00:14:07,640
Speaker 5: that could have implications for its credit rating. Afrexim Bank

208
00:14:07,760 --> 00:14:12,040
Speaker 5: has definitely made it clear that it's not going to

209
00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:16,439
Speaker 5: take this line down. What kind of recourse they would

210
00:14:16,440 --> 00:14:19,960
Speaker 5: have we don't yet know, and they haven't yet said

211
00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:23,240
Speaker 5: what kind of approach they will take if they are

212
00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:28,640
Speaker 5: compelled to restructure the debts. We have seen them sue

213
00:14:28,880 --> 00:14:33,320
Speaker 5: South su Done in a court in the UK and

214
00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:37,480
Speaker 5: they actually won what's known as a summary judgment in

215
00:14:37,680 --> 00:14:40,800
Speaker 5: May this year, where the judge said that South Sudan

216
00:14:41,360 --> 00:14:44,880
Speaker 5: has to pay the hundreds of millions of dollars that

217
00:14:45,040 --> 00:14:48,920
Speaker 5: it owes Afrexim Bank. Whether this will ultimately end up

218
00:14:48,960 --> 00:14:52,120
Speaker 5: in a UK court when it comes to the case

219
00:14:52,200 --> 00:14:56,880
Speaker 5: with Ghane or Zambia, we'll have to wait and see.

220
00:14:57,400 --> 00:15:00,440
Speaker 2: And Matthew Hill, thanks again so much for your and

221
00:15:00,520 --> 00:15:03,280
Speaker 2: for joining us this week, and you can read all

222
00:15:03,320 --> 00:15:07,800
Speaker 2: of our coverage on African debt across Bloomberg platforms. Now

223
00:15:09,280 --> 00:15:11,280
Speaker 2: here's some of the other stories in the region that

224
00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:16,640
Speaker 2: we've been following. French broadcaster Canal Plus received South African

225
00:15:16,760 --> 00:15:21,200
Speaker 2: Anti Trust approval to buy Multi Choice Group, which clears

226
00:15:21,200 --> 00:15:24,520
Speaker 2: the way to making it the largest PayTV and streaming

227
00:15:24,640 --> 00:15:28,240
Speaker 2: business on the continent. The deal got the go ahead

228
00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:32,120
Speaker 2: from the Anti Trust watchdog this week, enabling a transaction

229
00:15:32,280 --> 00:15:36,560
Speaker 2: that values Multi Choice at about three billion dollars. And

230
00:15:37,520 --> 00:15:40,760
Speaker 2: Nigeria's Central Bank said about a third of lenders have

231
00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:45,119
Speaker 2: met its new capital requirements threshold ahead of a March deadline.

232
00:15:45,640 --> 00:15:49,440
Speaker 2: The Abuja based Central Bank of Nigeria last year increased

233
00:15:49,440 --> 00:15:53,240
Speaker 2: the minimum capital requirement for lenders tenfold to strengthen the

234
00:15:53,240 --> 00:15:56,960
Speaker 2: industry against risks from high inflation, a week economy and

235
00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:02,000
Speaker 2: a steep Nayrad evaluation. Can follow these stories across Bloomberg,

236
00:16:02,120 --> 00:16:03,800
Speaker 2: including the Next African Newsletter.

237
00:16:04,000 --> 00:16:06,000
Speaker 1: Will put a link to that in the show notes.

238
00:16:09,160 --> 00:16:12,720
Speaker 2: This program was produced by Adrian Bradley and tiwa Adebayo.

239
00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:15,680
Speaker 2: Don't forget to follow and review this show wherever you

240
00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:19,400
Speaker 2: usually get your podcasts, But for now I'm Jennifer's Abasaja.

241
00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:20,720
Speaker 1: Thanks as always for listening,