African Banks Strong Despite Meltdown- Pera

Emilio Pera, banking and Capital Markets director at Ernst & Young has said that banks across sub-Saharan Africa, with the possible exception of Nigeria, have not faced collapse on a major scale in spite of global economic meltdown.
He noted that while they have felt the effects of slowing revenue growth and reduced trading income, “this has not led to the collapse of any of the major banking institutions.”
“There are a number of lessons the banks have learnt from the recent crisis. First and foremost, banks have had to acknowledge that liquidity risk is a crucial risk area that has to be given more attention. An area the G20 also committed to modify in the Basel II Capital Framework.  Prior to the outbreak of the financial liquidity crisis, banks tended to concentrate on three major risk categories, namely credit, operational and market risk. This is increasingly going to be complemented by a fourth risk category, namely liquidity risk. Major banks, including some South African institutions, have incurred losses from proprietary trading positions, which proved difficult to unwind in an illiquid market,” he added.
“Indeed, some major Nigerian banks had to be rescued by central bank intervention due to those banks building up significant portfolios of credit with direct exposure to equity markets. This meant that those banks had taken on significant market positions, knowingly or unknowingly, even if the banks were not themselves directly exposed to stock-exchange equities.”
This according to Pera raises two concerns, “On the one hand, there was undoubtedly a credit risk issue in that too much credit was extended to equities, resulting in concentration risk. But in addition to that, liquidity risk was in all likelihood overlooked, or at the very least under acknowledged.  Having concentrated risk in one or two market segments is already a major risk in its own right. But having major exposure to capital markets is another matter, and one that banks (and other financial services companies) across the globe have been grappling with.”
Currently, the Nigerian stock exchange index is 38% off its levels of 12 months ago, indicating why creditors that borrowed funds to purchase shares have struggled to repay loans.
Ernst & Young reports that many sub-Saharan banks have not incurred losses as a result of the banking crisis. “Rather profits have slowed dramatically in the last reporting periods. This is true for banks in all of the major hubs, including East and Southern Africa, and with the exception of Nigeria, the western hub too,” Pera said.
In this environment of slowing revenue growth, banks have been forced to re-examine their cost structures. But, he points out: “It’s about more than just cost-cutting. Whilst cost cutting is essential to getting financial services companies through a short-term crisis, firms need to take a longer-term view of their core business. This in turn, will help them determine what business processes need improvement and refinement.”
“In addition, financial services companies may need to re-examine their core versus non-core business, and decide what should best be divested from, and where to concentrate resources for future growth. In reality, some costs may need to be increased in the short-term as longer-term efficiencies are sought.”
“Information Technology is one area where if anything, financial services companies understand they may need to increase their spending in order to benefit over the longer term. IT is critical to ensuring enhanced data quality, finance and risk integration, and greater client insight. All of these components have become critical in light of the recent crisis,” he added.