The rise of China to become the industrial powerhouse of the world has been the great economic miracle of the last 30 years. With China’s assistance, Africa’s economic take-off is now well underway. The partnership between Standard Bank Group and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) has for many years played a role in contributing to developing crucial infrastrcuture in various countries in Africa.
In many cases, Chinese investment and trade have played a crucial role in supporting economic growth and infrastructure development.
Standard Bank Group and ICBC have worked together on a wide range of initiatives, all with a strong focus on supporting infrastructure investment and industrial development in Africa, and on growing trade and investment flows between China and Africa.
Strategic cooperation between ICBC and Standard Bank has enabled us to arrange more than US$7-billion in loans to African countries and to complete over US$14-billion of transactions that have brought equity and debt capital from Chinese corporations and financial institutions to Africa.
While much of our joint work so far has been in corporate and investment banking, ICBC and Standard Bank Group are increasingly exploring opportunities to expand cooperation into new areas of business.
In retail banking, we are working together to introduce new solutions to facilitate personal remittances between South Africa and China. This will enable online person-to-person and business-to-business direct international payments and will be managed by dedicated specialist teams, improving convenience and reducing costs for our customers.
Here are some examples of Standard Bank Group’s collaboration on deals with ICBC in Africa.
