Absa’s new CIB representative office in New York will be open before the end of the year, according to James Gregory, chief representative for the bank in New York.
This follows the opening of its London representative office in September 2018, and is part of the South Africa bank’s push to capture new relationships with international investors and multinational companies (MNCs) looking to invest in Africa.
“Regulatory approval at the federal and state level in the US has now been received and we already have the premises, staff and legal and controls frameworks finalized, so we believe that we will be up and running in quick order,” says Gregory.
“America MNCs continue to be interested in the huge growth opportunity in Africa. We can support them through these opportunities.”
Africa is undergoing a demographic transformation. Its population is projected to nearly double in size by 2050 and could quadruple by the end of the century to four billion.
Meanwhile, the financial strength of the middle classes in Africa continues to grow.
According to the Brookings Institution, consumer spending in Africa hit $1.4