Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) and China Construction Bank (CCB) have extended a partnership agreement for another five years to help facilitate growing trade relations between China and Africa.
China has established itself as a major force in Africa in the past two decades of its infrastructure-led economic growth, which used mineral resources produced on the continent. It has at the same time emerged as one of the world’s major hubs of manufactured goods.
CCB, China’s second-largest bank, has assisted Chinese companies investing in and trading with Africa, with RMB providing on-the-ground expertise since 2009.
RMB CEO Emrie Brown said in a statement on Monday that the partnership facilitated more than R20bn in trade and provided Southern African companies with more than R6bn in financing.
“We are excited to extend our partnership with CCB and help develop the increasingly important trade and investment growth between Africa and China,” said Erwin Pon, head of RMB Asia.
Clients were increasingly settling import and export deals directly in renminbi without first converting rand to dollars, which reduces the costs of trade, Pon said. But he stressed the dollar remains the most widely used currency for international trade.
RMB is the corporate and investment banking arm of FirstRand, Africa’s largest bank by market value.
Pon said the partnership will over the next five years focus on jointly supporting customers in the China-Africa corridor and expand their co-operation in project financing, syndicated loans and trade.
The partnership is investigating various co-operation initiatives that will enable the two banks to give their clients better service. The parties have committed to collaborate in activities and events in the China-Africa corridor to create brand awareness for both parties in Africa and internationally.
SA was Africa’s largest exporter to China up to 2021, followed by Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the China Africa Research Initiative.
Nigeria remains the largest buyer of Chinese goods, followed by SA and Egypt.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.