African finance ministers started talks with private creditors to find a way to temporarily suspend debt payments without triggering defaults, Bloomberg News reported. At least a dozen African finance ministers spoke during the hour-and-half virtual meeting with more than 100 creditors on Monday, according to a representative of private creditors who attended the gathering.

South Africa’s Phumelela Gaming and Leisure on Friday joined a slew of distressed firms to file for business rescue - a local form of bankruptcy protection - after a nationwide lockdown suspended activities in the horse racing industry, Reuters reported. Phumelela, of which former Steinhoff International CEO Markus Jooste was a director and among its largest shareholders, has not been able to stage race meetings since the end of March due to the lockdown. This has hurt its revenue from racing and betting, the company said in statement. “...

Measures by some African countries to get money flowing into the real economy aren’t working yet, with banks parking cash in government bonds as the economic slowdown cuts demand for credit, Bloomberg News reported. Lenders have little choice but to invest in government securities as opportunities to deploy unprecedented amounts of liquidity provided by their central banks dry up. Lockdowns aimed at containing the spread of the coronavirus have brought trade to a halt, leaving lenders to focus on helping existing customers with payment holidays or loan restructurings.

Standard Bank Group Ltd. and Absa Group Ltd. are among South African banks holding off on any further layoffs as they prepare to help the shrinking economy survive a potential jobs bloodbath, Bloomberg News reported. Local lenders join global institutions from New York, Paris, London and Frankfurt that have pledged to preserve jobs during the coronavirus pandemic.

South Africa’s Investec Property Fund (IPF) said on Wednesday it expects retailer Edcon’s decision to seek bankruptcy protection to have a limited impact on its business, Reuters reported. Last Wednesday South Africa’s biggest non-food retailer filed for a business rescue - the nation’s bankruptcy protection process - becoming the country’s first major corporate casualty of the coronavirus pandemic.

South Africa does not want a fire sale of the assets of troubled national airline SAA nor for the carrier to be liquidated, Public Enterprises Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Gordhan told a parliamentary committee that the government was in talks with rescue specialists in charge of state-owned South African Airways (SAA) on how best to save the airline, which entered a form of bankruptcy protection in December.

Comair said on Tuesday that it had entered voluntary business rescue - South Africa’s bankruptcy protection process - after a nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the coronavirus forced airlines to suspend all commercial flights, Reuters reported. Comair joins state-owned South African Airways, which filed for business rescue in December, as well as state-owned SA Express which was placed under “provisional liquidation” last Tuesday.

FCMB Group Plc plans to restructure half of its loans after plunging oil prices, the coronavirus lockdown and a naira devaluation hindered the ability of the Nigerian bank’s clients to repay their debt, Bloomberg News reported. Credit facilities across industries ranging from oil and gas to small- and medium-sized enterprises will be reorganized, the Lagos-based lender said in a presentation on Tuesday. New terms will include a six-to 12-month moratorium on principal debt repayments and an extension on loan maturities of up to two years.

Two South African trade unions are seeking court action to try to block layoffs at the embattled state-owned South African Airways (SAA), court papers seen by Reuters on Friday showed, Reuters reported. SAA entered a form of bankruptcy protection in December and rescue specialists Les Matuson and Siviwe Dongwana proposed severance packages for all of SAA’s roughly 5,000-strong workforce last month after the government said it would not provide any more funds. They gave trade unions until the end of business on Friday to reach an agreement on staff severances.

Zambian inflation accelerated for a 13th straight month in April to the highest rate in almost four years as its currency continued to plummet, Bloomberg News reported. Consumer prices rose 15.7% from a year earlier, compared with 14% in March, the Zambia Statistics Agency said Thursday. That’s the highest rate since September 2016. Prices rose 2.2% in the month. The kwacha has weakened 2.5% against the dollar this month, taking its plunge for the year to 24%, the worst-performing currency in Africa.