ABSA'S bid for Bank Gaborone fails

Brian Benza
Staff Writer | Monday July 5, 2010 00:00

In a statement, Namibia's central bank said it had block a offer by South Africa's ABSA to gain control of Capricorn Investment Holdings, which has a 72 percent shareholding in Bank Windhoek and a 88 percent stake in Bank Gaborone, citing concern about foreign dominance of its financial industry. The move is a setback for ABSA, which is majority owned by Britain's Barclays.

Bank Gaborone was issued with a banking licence in February 2006, opening its first retail branch in September 2006 while Barclays Bank Botswana has been in the country for over a hundred years now.

'The Bank of Namibia is concerned that should the transaction be approved, all domestic banks will be majority foreign owned, which is not in line with the national development objectives,' central bank governor Ipumbu Shiimi said last Friday.

ABSA has not said how much it planned to pay for the stake, which would have given it at least 50.5 percent of Bank Windhoek. ABSA rivals Standard Bank, First Rand and Nedbank all have majority stakes in Namibian lenders. 'This could further expose the Namibian banking industry to a single-country risk, a situation that is not desirable,' Shiimi said.

ABSA said it was 'disappointed' and would study the decision further.

Bank Windhoek has more than 13 billion rand in assets. Its rivals include Standard Bank Namibia, FNB Namibia and Nedbank. ABSA Chief Executive Maria Ramos told Reuters last week the bank was 'constantly on the lookout' for an acquisition in oil-rich Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation.