Investment Banking Fees Drop 12% in 9 Months in Sub-Saharan Africa – Refinitiv

• Investment Banking Fees Drop 12% in 9 Months in Sub-Saharan Africa – Refinitiv

Weak growth in the Sub-Saharan Africa region has started reflecting on investment banking fees, according to a new report from the Refinitiv.

Investment banking fees in the region reached an estimated US$380.8 million in the first nine months of the year, a 12 percent decline when compared with the same period of 2018 and the lowest first nine months in four years.

Accordingly, double-digit declines were recorded for both equity and debt capital markets underwriting fees, with equity dropping as much as 66 percent to US$28.8 million. Again, the lowest nine-month since 2003.

Bond underwriting fees plunged 38 percent to a three-year low of US$57.3 million while syndicated lending fees declined by 17 percent year-on-year to US$131.2 million.

However, advisory fees from completed M&A transactions increased by 71 percent to US$163.5 million.

Last week, the International Monetary Fund lowers the region projected growth to 3.2 percent in 2019. The Refinitiv report highlighted the change in some of the key economic indicators in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Franita Neuville, Investment & Advisory Performance Director for the Middle East and Africa at Refinitiv said: “As indicated before, we expected the Investment Banking Fees to continue to perform at a slow pace this quarter as organizations have become more inward-looking due to the current state of the international political economy. It is, however, encouraging to see that local firms keep topping the ECM book runner tables as seen in the case of Standard Bank.”

Download the complete SS Africa IB Review Q3 2019.