Nigeria’s interbank lending rates jumped last week to an average of 13.91 percent, from 11.83 percent last week, after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) issued about 90 billion naira ($572.79 million) worth oftreasury bills (t-bills) to mop up excess liquidity.

Brazil-based BTG Pactual Bank has launched a $1billion (N158 billion) Africa-focused private equity fund, the bank’s chief executive Andre Esteves said last week.

Zenith Bank has  altered industry trend where banks were generating a greater portion of their revenue from non interest income, as the bank for the 2012 first quarter reported   a 33 percent Year on Year rise in revenue to N72.4 billion . Interest income  was a major driver  rising   47 percentto N52.8 billion in Q1 2012 from Q1 2011 .

Franklin Templeton is launching an Africa fund for veteran investor Mark Mobius. The Templeton Africa fund, scheduled for launch this month, will invest in African equities or companies which have their principal businesses in Africa while offering investors a chance to access a diversified portfolio of companies across countries and sectors with exposure to secular growth trends on the African continent.