Category: Banking

Standard Bank Becomes First African Bank to Offer China’s Cross-Border Interbank Payment System

China's alternative to the SWIFT international payment network is now available in Africa, following the announcement by Standard Bank, the continent's largest bank in terms of assets, as the first institution to offer the Cross-Border Interbank Payment System (CIPS). This is ...

China and Indonesia Are Linking QR Payments, and It’s Bigger Than You Think

China and Indonesia are launching a partnership to connect their QR code payment systems, shaking up the way cross-border payments work. China’s UnionPay International and Indonesia’s Payment System Association (ASPI) have teamed up to bring their QR code payment ...

South Africa’s Rand Merchant Bank and China Construction Bank Boost Ties for Trade, Financing

South Africa’s Rand Merchant Bank and China Construction Bank have extended a partnership for another five years to foster trade relations between China and Africa. The two will focus over the next five years on supporting customers within the China-Africa corridor ...

Brazil’s Central Bank Quadruples Yuan Holdings, Raising Chinese Hopes for Greater RMB Acceptance

Brazil’s Central Bank increased its reserves of Chinese renminbi (RMB) fourfold last year. It is the latest indication that the RMB is set to become much more influential in the global financial landscape. A survey last week indicated ...

South Africa’s Standard Bank Wants to Exit a Once-Legendary Joint Venture with Chinese Mega-Bank ICBC

Standard Bank, one of South Africa’s major banks, is looking to exit a joint venture with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC.) The joint venture, the London-based ICBC Standard Bank Plc (ICBCS), long represented the largest Chinese investment on the continent.

Analysis from Cobus van Staden

Plugging into African Agency

After several years of declining funding, the African end of the Belt and Road Initiative seems to be roaring back. The newest Griffith University/Green Development Finance Center data on the Belt and Road Initiative shows that engagement with Africa jumped by 395%, while a few big projects boosted engagement in Nigeria alone more than twelvefold.

These shifts indicate a window of opportunity for African electrification. 60% of Africans still lack ...

What African Banks Can Learn from Chinese Fintechs

In 2017, mobile technologies and services generated 7.1% of GDP across Sub-Saharan Africa, and Mckinsey found a sharp rise in the number of mobile financial services such as peer-2-peer borrowing, group savings and micro-loans among others. ...

China, Africa and the PRC's Massive New Development Bank

57 countries including two from Africa, are among the founding members of China's new development bank, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB). While the new bank's primary objective will be develop infrastructure projects in Asia, as its name suggests, there is widespread anticipation (mixed ...