Franklin Ngwu

Banking on Africa: Can Emerging Pan-African Banks Outcompete Their Global Rivals?

With the increasing liberalization and globalization of the financial services sector, there has been a rise in the foreign ownership of banking assets around the world. Interestingly, in Africa, there has been a remarkable rise of domestic and regional banks in the last decade or so, as challenger firms position themselves to lead a sector that has historically been dominated by Western players since the colonial era. This trend runs counter to the current dominance of foreign multinationals in many sectors across Africa, and raises a pertinent question: Can African-owned banks outcompete their global counterparts in the region? In this chapter, we provide a brief overview of the evolution of competition in banking, and analyse the state of cross-border banking in the region. In addition to providing insights on the internationalization strategies and outcomes of leading foreign and pan-African banks, we offer perspectives on the future competitive landscape.

The influence of internal corporate governance mechanisms on capital structure decisions of Chinese listed firms

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of internal corporate governance mechanisms on the capital structure decisions of Chinese-listed firms. Design/methodology/approach - Using a large and more recent data set consisting of 2,386 Chinese-listed firms over the period from 1998 to 2012, the authors use different statistical methods (OLS, fixed effects and system GMM) to analyse the effects of firm-specific and corporate governance influences on capital structure. Findings - The authors find that the proportion of independent directors and ownership concentration exert significant influence on the level of Chinese long-term debt ratios after controlling for firm-specific determinants and split share reforms. Further analysis separating the sample of this paper into state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and privately owned enterprises (POEs) suggests that ownership concentration in the hands of the state leads to decrease in debt ratios. Research limitations/implications - The finding implies that concentrated ownership in the hands of the state appears more efficient compared to their private counterparts in their monitoring role. Originality/value - This paper extends prior literature, which has concentrated disproportionately on firm-specific influences on capital structure, to the effects of within-firm governance mechanisms on capital structure decisions. The paper contributes to the agency theory–capital structure discourse in an emerging country context where corporate governance system appears weak.

Addressing Climate Change due to Emission of Greenhouse Gases Associated with the Oil and Gas Industry: Market-Based Regulation to the Rescue

Originality/value This study provided an ample opportunity to theoretically examine market-based regulatory tools utilised in the oil and gas industry in a developed country in relation to a developing country.

FirstBank of Nigeria: Developing an Internationalization Strategy

Mr Bisi Onasanya, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of FirstBank of Nigeria Ltd (FBN) was collecting his thoughts after a meeting held with officials of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the apex regulator of the Nigerian financial services industry. He had been appointed Managing Director of FBN in 2009 and was directing the bank’s ambitious agenda of establishing its presence in most major cities of Sub-Saharan Africa. He reflected on CBN’s plan to make Nigeria Africa’s financial capital and major financial services hub and the role FBN had to play as Nigeria’s largest bank in this process. Bisi synthesized some crucial lessons he would have to bring to bear as Nigeria moved up the African scale of economic importance and relevance. FBN’s Nigerian heritage laid the framework for its proposed aggressive internationalization.