South Africa’s Standard Bank says it plans to extend it services to Francophone countries in Africa, citing the investment boom it perceives the sub-region would soon experience, with its mineral wealth and economic growth sure to attract foreign investors.
Standard Bank will be leveraging on its presence in Ivory Coast to reach other parts of the French-speaking region as it had opened a representative office in Abidjan, the capital city in 2013 to serve its clients with operations in the region.
“It’s fair to say that we’ll be using the Ivory Coast office as a launchpad into the rest of the region,” said Executive for Client Coverage Africa at Standard Bank’s Corporate and Investment Banking unit, Mr Greg Goeller.
He admitted that the French-speaking part of West Africa was not well-known to South Africans, but noted its economic potentials are too enormous to ignore.
Goeller stressed that the bank could benefit from an impending global mining and infrastructure boom which he noted would lead to economic growth in other sectors of the economy.
“Our clients are increasing presence and exposure to West Francophone Africa and we plan to follow them,” the Client Coverage Executive said.
Despite going through two decades of civil war, Ivory Coast has emerged as one of Africa’s fastest growing economies, with the growth driven by public investment in natural resources, infrastructure, as well as the commercialisation of its agriculture sector, all fostered by its rapidly emerging consumer market.
Today, Ivory Coast is the ninth largest economy in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is also the largest and most diversified economy in Francophone Africa.
Standard Bank has put plans in motion to enter into Ivory Coast’s fellow member countries of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) – Burkina Faso, Benin, Mali, Senegal, Niger, Togo and Guinea Bissau. The bank also plans to expand further into six nations that comprise the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC), which include the Central African Republic, Cameroon, Republic of the Congo, Chad, Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.
With the CFA franc pegged to the euro and guaranteed by the French treasury, investors can expect “more stability from a currency risk point of view,” Goeller noted.
Although Francophone Africa has so far enjoyed inward foreign direct investment (FDI) through mining and resources, but Standard Bank expects investments in other sectors such as infrastructure, oil and gas, telecommunications, fast moving consumer goods and agriculture.
Africa’s biggest lender, Standard Bank is ready to herald the entry of South Africa and the West into Francophone Africa where Goeller noted Western Countries and the Southern African country have not really played a major role.
“The world simply cannot afford to ignore the economic growth potential of these countries for much longer,” he said. (VENTURES AFRICA)
