Africa's economic troubles took a turn for the worse yesterday when the continent's biggest bank said it would rein in lending.
FirstRand CEO Johan Burger said the bank was curbing credit in response to increased defaults, a commodity price slump and slowing consumer demand in its biggest markets, which include South Africa, Nigeria and Zambia.
"We've taken a decision to make further cuts on credit granting, so asset growth will drop," Burger said.
"The rest of Africa has also seen some uptick in non-performing loans."
The decline in commodity prices has hammered Nigeria, with growth in Africa's biggest economy expected to decline by 50%.
"Corporate bad debts are likely to increase further," FirstRand said.
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