on deposits weakened as a result of fewer retail overdrafts and the indirect effects of increases in compensating balances - as higher market interest rates boosted internal earnings credit rates on such balances - that damped direct - fee revenue received from commercial depositors. mortgage banking revenues from servicing activities have been robust, although those from originations are tailing off. despite frequent reports from bankers that their compliance costs have increased significantly and that they have incurred some significant nonrecurring charges, expense control in the industry has been good. at this point, the available indicators suggest that banks ’ earnings prospects remain favorable. nevertheless, bankers would probably admit they would like to see a greater share of their earnings growth come from improved lending and margins rather than lower provisions. bank capital ratios remain very strong. some 99 percent of banks in the united states are well capitalized, matching the highest proportion we have ever seen. regulatory capital ratios are not affected by merger - related increases in nominal capital, of course, because intangible goodwill assets are deducted from regulatory capital. community banks the aggregate performance measures i have just described are quite significantly influenced by the largest banks. however, most commercial banks are community banks - banks with assets of less than $ 1 billion. in 2004, community banks once again demonstrated their value to their shareholders and the marketplace, earning $ 13. 4 billion for a respectable return on assets ( roa ) of 1. 21 percent and a return on shareholders ’ equity of 11. 72 percent. community banks also reported strong results in the first quarter of 2005. profits of $ 3. 6 billion reflected mixed developments in key businesses, a significant and favorable seasonal influence, and many of the same factors that affected the industry as a whole. compared with the prior year, community bank profitability improved somewhat with a roa of 1. 27 percent, up 5 basis points from the same quarter of 2004, and a return on equity ( roe ) of 12. 33 percent, an improvement of about 50 basis points. on this year - over - year basis, improved asset quality allowed for lower provisions, but margins were tighter. only about 5 percent of community banks lost money for the year - and those institutions represented only about 2 percent of total community bank assets. community bank loans grew less than 1 percent in the first quarter compared with the fourth quarter of 2004, a rate that was about half the pace for the industry as a whole. increases in c & i and one - to

x p guma : investing in africa address by dr x p guma, deputy governor of the south african reserve bank, at the arab - african investment, banking and business conference, cape town, 28 november 2006. * 1. * * introduction chairperson, excellencies, distinguished guests, participants, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great honour for me to address you this morning, here in cape town. permit me to add my voice to those which have already welcomed our visitors to south africa. 1. 1. the victoria and alfred waterfront, where we are meeting, is perhaps a uniquely appropriate venue for this meeting of minds, given that this waterfront was recently acquired by the dubai world and london & regional properties consortium. the consortium has in addition, also announced its plans to invest a further us $ 1 billion plus in the further bricks - and - mortar development of the v & a waterfront over the next four years. this is, some would say, concrete representation of the nature of the benefits which flow from increased interaction between our respective regions. 1. 2. in this address, i intend to outline some salient characteristics of the current conjuncture in africa – from the perspective of investment. i will then say something about south africa, again from the perspective of its attributes relative to investment. no claim is made, here, to originality. the object is, by contrast, to re - state those positive aspects of the current conjuncture which bear repetition : for no arab or african economy is currently included in the list of “ advanced economies ”. all are typically classified as “ emerging - market and developing countries ”, equally capable of either retrogression or progression. 2. african emerging 2. 1. as is well - known by now, the integrated socio - economic development framework for africa was adopted in july 2001 in lusaka by the 37th summit of the oau, and was named nepad – the new partnership for africa ’ s development. the four primary objectives of the nepad programme are the eradication of poverty, the promotion of sustainable growth and development, the integration of africa in the world economy, and the accelerated empowerment of women. 2. 2 nepad has a commitment to good governance, democracy, human rights and conflict resolution as underlying principles. the programme recognises that maintaining these standards is fundamental to the creation of an environment which is conducive to strong investment and long - term economic growth. nepad seeks to attract increased investment, capital