Absa Group plans to open office in Beijing to serve Chinese firms with operations in Africa
- The Pan African lender, which expects to launch the advisory office by the year-end, is awaiting approval from South African authorities
- Absa signed an agreement for a three-year US$200 million working capital facility with China Development Bank last month
Absa Group, the South Africa-based lender, is poised to set up its first office in China by the end of this year, betting on the expansion of Chinese companies doing business on the continent, according to a senior executive.
The office in Beijing is currently awaiting approval from authorities in South Africa. It is expected to be first launched as an advisory office with fewer than 10 people, connecting the decision makers of Chinese companies doing business in Africa with the bank.
“We are quite committed to China,” said Zhu Kai, principal and head of China Corridor at Absa Corporate and Investment Bank. “I just finished a trip to China last week with our executives from Africa, visiting Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Beijing. We are optimistic towards the country’s further growth.”
China is Africa’s largest two-way trading partner. The country’s exports to Africa were US$164.49 billion in 2022, while imports reached US$117.51 billion, according to Chinese customs data.
Meanwhile, a number of China’s Belt and Road Initiative-related projects are still ongoing in Africa, including the building of a coastal railway line in Nigeria and mining infrastructure in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“We are seeing strong growth of China business at our franchises [at home],” Zhu said, adding that Absa was seeing double-digit revenue growth for the China Corridor.
