Barclays Africa, China Devt Bank sign pact on projects in Africa

Barclays Africa Group Limited (BAGL) and China Development Bank (CDB) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) that will help fund development projects in Africa.
CDB’s focus on infrastructure finance for roads, railways and dams, while Barclays Africa will leverage on the MoU to unlock opportunities in order to strengthen its contribution towards Africa’s economic growth and development. Barclays Africa will also extract synergies from the CDB’s focus on inclusive finance to provide capital to SME’s and low income communities.
In addition, Barclays Africa and CDB will explore reciprocal training and development opportunities for their respective investment teams.
“This MoU represents a long-term commitment by seior leadership at Barclays Africa to strengthen our relationship with the world’s largest development finance institution, which has assets of over US$2-trillion. This partnership will unlock opportunities that are aligned to our Shared Growth approach and could facilitate positive socio-economic impact,” says Barclays Africa’s Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) Co-Chief Executive, Temi Ofong.
As one of the leading Pan-African banks, Barclays Africa’s in-depth understanding of local markets and sectors, coupled with a strong branch, ATM and customer networks, is well positioned to provide a unique value proposition to local, regional and global clients.
“Strengthening these kinds of relationships will help our Group identify opportunities aligned to our Shared Growth commitment to leave our communities better than we found them. As a Pan-African bank, Shared Growth gives our business an exciting opportunity to make a difference in our communities and to be part of shaping the collective futures of this great continent,” Ofong added.
Established in 1994 as a policy bank, CDB now operates as a Development Finance Institution (DFI) for the Chinese Government. By 2017, CDB supported more than 500 projects in 43 African countries valued at $50-billion.
Barclays Africa Group operates in 12 countries, with approximately 40 000 employees, serving close to 12 million customers.

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