Africa’s top lenders are opening branches in major Chinese cities in a race to tap into growing trade ties between China and Africa amid Beijing’s push for yuan-based transactions.
This is despite threats from the US, where president-elect Donald Trump has said he will impose 100 per cent tariffs on Brics countries that pursue de-dollarisation.
In October, The Access Bank UK, a subsidiary of Nigeria’s Access Bank, opened a Hong Kong branch to “foster stronger economic ties between Asia and Africa” under China’s multibillion-dollar Belt and Road Initiative, according to bank executives.
It came a few months after South Africa-based Absa Group, one of Africa’s largest lenders, opened its new non-banking subsidiary in Beijing.
Absa said the new office would provide general advisory services to clients in China for conducting transactions across Africa, with the lender positioning itself “as a facilitator of trade flows into Africa”.
These are in addition to the African banking presence already in China. Morocco-based Bank of Africa and the National Bank of Egypt both have branches in Shanghai. Africa’s largest bank by assets, Standard Bank, also operates a subsidiary in China for general activities.
Meanwhile, there has been a steady trickle of Chinese banks establishing a presence in Africa, particularly Bank of China (BOC), which has branches in Morocco, Angola, Zambia and South Africa.
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