"Africa\u2019s biggest bank eyes acquisitions to power growth on the Continent"

" Africa\u2019s biggest bank eyes acquisitions to power growth on the Continent \r\n\r\nFirstRand Ltd. is looking to purchase other African banks in countries where it operates as the continent\u2019s biggest lender by market value seeks to expand.\r\n\r\nPotential targets for acquisitions may also include financial services outside of traditional banking, Mary Vilakazi, FirstRand\u2019s incoming chief executive officer, said in an interview Thursday at the bank\u2019s headquarters in Johannesburg. She is due to take over from Alan Pullinger on April 1.\r\n\r\n\u201cMaybe there are other ways in which we can participate in financial services, without necessarily setting up branches and having a banking license,\u201d Vilakazi said. The challenge is in finding possible targets at a reasonable price, she added.\r\n\r\nBoth Standard Bank Group Ltd. and Nedbank Group Ltd., which compete with FirstRand in their home market of South Africa, are moving to capitalize on the rapid economic growth that\u2019s transforming many other countries on the continent. While FirstRand already has units in west and southern Africa, it is also looking at establishing itself in the east, including in Kenya.\r\n\r\nShares of FirstRand rose 18% last year, lagging behind Standard Bank\u2019s 24% rally.\r\n\r\nThough South Africa\u2019s $405 billion economy has recently been facing headwinds such as record power outages and logistical constraints, Vilakazi said the country\u2019s prospects are brighter in the next 10 years than in the past decade.\r\n\r\nNational elections this year are expected to be the most competitive since South Africa became a democracy almost 30 years ago. Surveys suggest the ruling African National Congress could lose its absolute majority for the first time since coming to power in 1994.\r\n\r\n\u201cFor a democracy we need to get to a place whereby a party knows that if they don\u2019t deliver, they can lose an election,\u201d Vilakazi said. The election \u201cmight be muddy, it might be noisy, but I think that\u2019s how we start strengthening our democratic muscle.\u201d"

"Africa\u2019s biggest bank eyes acquisitions to power growth on the Continent"

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