South African Investor Laps up Zenith, Access Bank Shares

Allan Gray Ltd., the largest manager of non-government investment funds in Africa, has increased its stake in Zenith and Access Banks.

The South African investor, based in Cape Town, is betting on Nigeria’s banking industry despite poor performances by the oil companies it depends on and widespread calls for the naira to be further devalued, reported Bloomberg yesterday.

Allan Gray’s Chief Investment Officer, Andrew Lapping disclosed the investment move in a February 10 interview in Cape Town.

He didn’t say how big the holdings are or how many shares his company had bought in each of the banks.

“We see a lot of value in Nigerian banks,” Lapping said. “Most people think they’re all going to zero because of the bad debts. We think they will survive” because high interest rates make the banks profitable and they have less debts to equity compared with European lenders, he said.

 

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