“JAM yesterday, jam tomorrow, but no jam today.” That was a shareholder’s complaint at the recent results presentation of Investec, a specialist bank that was founded in South Africa and now operates globally. The lament is a familiar one to investors in many of Africa’s fastest-growing banks. The region’s lenders are promising spectacular returns

ASKED in 2007 why his bank kept making risky loans even as markets looked bubbly, Chuck Prince, then head of Citigroup, said that “as long as the music is playing, you’ve got to get up and dance.” The same beat that beguiled Mr Prince then (he was turfed out months later when the music abruptly stopped) threatens to trap private equity now.

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