JOHANNESBURG/PARIS, Jan 18 (Reuters) - French bank Societe Generale and South Africa’s Absa joined forces in Africa on Friday, partnering on corporate and investment banking to broaden their reach across the continent.
The agreement will lead to a closer relationship between the two after Absa, one of South Africa’s biggest lenders, split from its former parent, Britain’s Barclays, in 2017.
It will see them leverage one another’s complementary geographic footprints and product sets, with Absa strong across southern and eastern Africa and SocGen well established in western and North Africa.
“We mirror each other very well,” Nothando Ndebele, head of financial institutions group at Absa’s corporate and investment bank, told Reuters by phone, adding it would be hard to find another bank with that footprint.
Absa has set itself a series of targets as it tries to make a name for itself as a pan-African, standalone bank.
It said the arrangement would give it a bigger share of its clients’ wallets, and help meet its target of doubling its share of banking revenues in Africa from 6 to 12 percent.
SocGen Chief Executive Officer Frederic Oudea said in a statement it made sense to join forces as firms on the continent developed increasingly sophisticated banking needs.
The banks will also work together to serve Chinese firms on the continent - a lucrative market. Absa will also purchase SocGen’s South African business offering custody, trustee and clearing services, for an undisclosed price.
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