By AGENCIES
SUB-Saharan Africa and India form an “essential part” of FNB’s growth strategy‚ with the bank planning to extend its presence within the Afro-India corridor.
While trade values had declined slightly since the global economic crisis‚ the trade relationship between India and Africa was “as strong as ever” and this was especially true of sub-Saharan Africa “where FNB has a significant footprint and which forms a substantial part of FNB’s expansion strategy”‚ the company said on Tuesday.
“Despite a global economic backdrop characterised by widespread economic crises‚ India remains one of the fastest growing free-market democracies in the world. Home to over one billion people‚ the multi-lingual and multi-cultural composition of this dynamic country makes it very similar to SA‚” FNB said.
Like SA‚ “and indeed much of Africa”‚ India boasted very strong economic fundamentals‚ bolstered by a solid and well-regulated banking system as well as robust capital markets‚ the company said.
“Both India and Africa enjoy vibrant and steadily growing corporate sectors and an incredible entrepreneurial spirit that is‚ in many ways‚ driving continued economic growth and is recognised as the key requirement for future economic and social sustainability.”
In 2009‚ FirstRand Bank became the first and only bank from the African continent to be granted a full-scale commercial banking license in India.
In April 2012‚ FRB India officially launched its retail operations in Mumbai. The company is part of FNB from an operational point of view‚ “signaling not only a massive leap forward for the bank‚ but also a new era of cooperation and transactional capability between Africa and India”.
Bobby Madhav‚ CEO of retail and commercial banking for FNB India‚ said: “It is not surprising that India and Africa have developed such a strong economic relationship over the past few decades.
“Since 1990‚ bilateral trade between India and Africa has flourished – as evidenced by the growth in trade value from US$1 billion two decades ago‚ to its peak of around $42 billion in 2008‚” he said.
Danny Zandamela‚ CEO of FNB Africa‚ said: “By making appropriate products and services available to our customers in both India and Africa‚ we hope to help them realise their financial aspirations and empower them to become drivers of the economic development in their region.
“Succeeding in this vision will ultimately contribute to the further strengthening of the entire Indo-Africa trade corridor for the benefit of all African and Indian people‚” he said.
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