Photo: Reuters Photo: Reuters
Cape Town - Rand Merchant Bank’s (RMB) office in Nigeria was set to expand its staff complement to 60 from 43 by the end of the year as the company grew its offering in the country, RMB west Africa chief executive Michael Larbie said yesterday.
The bank’s office in Lagos intended to expand its custody business and open a stock-broking business for the first time in the country, Larbie said during an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum on Africa.
RMB received a banking licence in Nigeria in November 2012 and banking operations got going in February 2013. Since then Nigeria’s economy has surpassed that of South Africa’s to become Africa’s largest and is now estimated to have a gross domestic product (GDP) of $522.64 billion (R6.4 trillion). The Nigerian economy is also growing faster, growing 3.96 percent in the first quarter compared with South Africa’s 1.3 percent.
In Ghana, RMB shares space in an office run by RMB Westport.
In another development, RMB’s sister company in the FirstRand Group, First National Bank (FNB), last month was issued with a banking licence in Ghana for the first time.
“By the end of the third quarter, FNB Ghana is likely to be operational,” Larbie said.
Larbie said RMB’s wholesale book in Nigeria was $1bn while in Ghana it was between $700 million and $750m.
In Nigeria, RMB has facilitated financing for Dangote PetroChemicals, Bua Sugar and Exxon Mobil as well as helping fund the Ikeja Mall in Lagos.
In Ghana, RMB has helped fund a 340 megawatt power plant for Cenpower.
RMB has also assisted Tullow Oil in funding the Jubilee oil field as well as helping put the money together for several real estate projects in Ghana.
West Africa’s contribution to RMB’s earnings was growing, he added. RMB would like to become an entrenched player in Nigeria and Ghana in its chosen areas of banking.
Turning to the election of Muhammadu Buhari as the president of Nigeria, Larbie said the change in government was likely to result in a pickup in activity in Nigeria including more infrastructure projects.
RMB is looking at being the financier for the Azura Power project in Nigeria as well as the $1.5bn Lekki port project.