Financial Services Spur Chinese Operations in Africa

By staff reporter LI YUAN

AFRICA， a continent of rich natural resources and immense growth potential， has for the past two decades held a magnetic attraction for Chinese companies， especially in view of the multilateral cooperative mechanism between African countries and China.

China-Africa trade reached US $198.5 billion last year. Chinese investment in the continent exceeded US $40 billion， and direct investment from China stood at US $14.7 billion， according to Chinese customs statistics. China has been the continents largest trade partner for almost a decade.

Huge Demand for Financial Services

Exchanges between China and Africa accelerated after the founding of the PRC， and more so following the independence of African countries. Ties have now expanded from the political to the economic realm. The commencement in the year 2000 of the Forum on ChinaAfrica Cooperation heralded a new era of economic cooperation between the two sides in trade， investment， project contracting， and aid programs. As a result， bilateral trade has reached a new peak. Since 2003， trade volumes between the two sides have grown at a brisk 40 per- cent annually.

The China-Africa economic relationship takes on new features as it expands. According to Zhang Wei， vice chairman of China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and China Chamber of International Commerce， Chinese investment in Africa is escalating. Although largely related to natural resources projects， Chinabacked investment projects are now widely dispersed accross the continent. Medium-sized and small enterprises are a surging force in Chinese operations on the ground.

“In the early years， trade between China and Africa was predominantly in primary products， such as iron ore and farm produce. Now it is more diversified. These days， African countries see China both as a resource importer and an exporter of capital goods needed for domestic development. This opens doors for Chinese companies that are striving to move up the value chain，” Zhang Wei said. Over the past two years， machinery and transport equipment have taken the lions share – about 41 percent – of Chinese exports to Africa. Zhang predicts that China-Africa trade will tick up 50 percent by 2015， and will head up to US$1.7 trillion in 2030.

Wei Jianguo， secretary general of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges， is also optimistic about prospects for China-Africa economic cooperation. He believes that regional unrest in parts of the continent will not derail the overall trend of strong growth. International Monetary Fund figures show that Africa registered a six percent GDP growth last year， well above the global average. Today China-Africa trade has moved beyond conventional sectors such as infrastructure， textiles and machinery， into other industries， like retailing and tourism. African countries moreover share a strong desire to work with China.

“Complete， wide-ranging financial services are needed to expand bilateral cooperation and facilitate Chinese businesses going to Africa. These include project finance， trade finance， bridge loans， foreign exchange， hedging of bulk commodities， cash management and ebanking，” said Lin Qingde， CEO of Standard Chartered Bank （China） Ltd.

US $5.7 billion worth of cross-border transactions between China and Africa was settled in RMB last year， according to a Standard Chartered Bank report. It states that a projected 20 percent of Chinese imports and exports will be settled in RMB by 2015， of which the African share will hit US $15 billion.

Cooperation Rather Than Competition

“As Chinese enterprises trade in Africa expands， customers seem to be demanding more high-end financial services. Besides traditional services such as deposits and loans， cash management and trade financing， many clients have high-end requirements relating to the global market， corporate finance and debt and capital markets，” director of the corporate finance department of the Standard Chartered Bank in Africa Luo Zhuoyu said.

Although Chinese banking is late arriving in the African financial market， its development momentum undoubtedly makes it a force to be reckoned with by its European and U.S. peers， who have been operating in Africa for far longer.

China EXIM is a policy bank under the management of the Chinese government. According to figures provided by Fitch Ratings， its loans to SubSaharan Africa countries and regions over the past 10 years amounted to US$67.2 billion， which is far in excess of that from the World Bank. It is thus the largest loan provider to the African region.

China-Africa Fund， run by another policy bank， China Development Bank， has invested in more than 60 projects in 30 African countries in diversified realms such as agriculture， infrastructure， manufacture， business parks and the exploitation of mineral resources. Its investment volume exceeds US $2 billion.

Chinas commercial banks have a low-profile presence in the African market that precludes them from the advantages of national policy banks. Growing international Chinese enterprises and businessman， however， constitute their biggest ace in the hole.

Many Chinese enterprises engaged in overseas resource development and infrastructure projects opt for cooperation with the Bank of China. “When they go abroad， the first bank that comes to their mind is the Bank of China，” asserted Qiu Zhikun， branch manager of the Bank of China in Johannesburg. Africa is of great strategic importance to the bank， which has operated in South Africa and Zambia for many years. In order to meet the demands of the rapid development of SinoAfrican trade， it will successively expand its operations to include Kenya， Angola， Mauritius and Nigeria， and cooperate with correspondent banks to establish“China Desks” in Ghana， Kenya， Uganda， Egypt， Morocco and Cameroon. The Bank of China will thus build a network covering the entire African continent that provides fast， efficient financial services for Chinese enterprises in Africa. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China（ICBC）， the worlds largest commercial bank， has in recent years been proactive in providing financial services to Chinese enterprises in Africa. In 2007， it bought for US $5.5 billion a 20 percent share in the Standard Bank of South Africa. It has since established a commercial and financial operation model comprising “capacity export， financial support and resources import，” and provided almost US $7 billion in loans to Africa， effectively enhancing the competitiveness of Chinese enterprises in exporting products and contracting projects.

In cooperation with Equity Bank of Kenya， China Unionpay has opened UnionPay card services in Uganda， Tanzania， Rwanda and Southern Sudan， expanding the Unionpay operation in Africa to 39 countries. The Sudan Tribune comments that things are getting more convenient for China UnionPay card holders in East Africa as more ATM machines and POS terminals are available for their use.

“Compared with its competitors， China has incomparable advantages because it is capable of providing a one-stop solution for Africa，” said Martyn Davies， CEO of Frontier Advisory， a South Africabased consultancy for investors in emerging African markets. “Taking mineral projects as an example， export-import banks not only offer sufficient funds， but also generate Chinese buyers， and even provide a mining team.”

Wei Jianguo believes， however， that apart from insufficient traditional competitive advantages， great gaps still exist between Chinas banking and its European and U.S. peers， in terms of longterm strategy formulation and talent and product innovation.

Qu Zhijun， a project manager at China Shipbuilding and Offshore International Co.， Ltd.， has engaged in African trade for many years. He says that compared with foreign banks whose thresholds are relatively high， he prefers to cooperate with Chinese-funded banks that offer favorable benefits， in particular national policy banking. Branches of Chinesefunded banks， however， are scarce and the regional capital ratio limit of policy banking cannot satisfy the demands of Chinese enterprises abroad. Compared with the fast development of Sino-African trade， financial services are inadequate. Qu maintains that what Chinese enterprises in Africa would most relish would be the governments encouragement of more financial institutions and Chinese enterprises “going global” together and accelerating the internationalization of the RMB.

“Chinese and foreign banks are more partners than competitors. In my opinion， they should learn from each other and serve private enterprise jointly to resolve their financial demands，” said CEO Lin Qingde of Standard Chartered Bank （China） Ltd. He confirmed that Standard Chartered Bank would continue leveraging its advantages by virtue of both its experience and branches in Africa to provide financial services with respect to the investment and trade of China-backed enterprises.

Avoiding Risks and Win-win

In 2013， the China-Africa Financial Forum sponsored by China Chamber of International Commerce carried out a survey of its members investment intentions in Africa. With regards to investment risks， what worried 67 percent of the respondents most was political unrest. When asked， however， whether they intended to continue their investments in Africa， 75 percent answered“yes.”

Lin Qingde holds that the African market is too scattered for a business environment， and that any single market lacks economies of scale. Currency fluctuations also make controlling total costs difficult， and acquiring finance is no easy task. In terms of sovereign risk， any change of government can result in uncertain government policy. Contract execution is also time-consuming and generates high financial costs. More- over， infrastructure in most regions is weak， which hinders the development of regional and international trade. The deficiency of project financing for infrastructure leads to high transportation costs and weak enterprise survival ability. There is also a shortage of skilled labor， and frequent labor movements give rise to far-ranging investor dissatisfaction. Chinese enterprises are also seldom familiar with local tax administration， law， government policy， and business practices.

Africa has immense market potential， though risks and opportunities coexist. What can Chinese enterprises do to avoid risks and expand the market？

Zhang Wei， vice-chairman of Chinas Chamber of International Commerce， argues that Chinese enterprises should have a long-term strategic plan when they decide to “go global” and expand overseas business. They need not only to calculate returns on investment but also to accurately and comprehensively evaluate investment risks. Once Chinese enterprises choose a target market， they should gain a deep knowledge of the local market and business environment and fully respect local customs， culture and laws. To accomplish this， in addition to strengthening understanding of the local market， they should also effectively draw support from local partners， such as trade partners and local accountants and cooperative banks.

Zhang Wei believes that Chinese enterprises should pay more attention to funds， technology export and personnel training when exporting products. Meanwhile， they should import products from Africa in order to promote economic and social development in African countries. “The Chinese government and business community are doing all they can to improve Sino-African trade structure， achieve balanced and sustainable development of Sino-Africa trade and develop mutually beneficial development patterns by giving the least developed African countries tax-free conditions for exporting products to China. In addition， Chinas Chamber of International Commerce sponsors the China International Import Expo， and its affiliate Sinosteel Corporation has developed an effective donation system in Africa， thus creating a win-win situation，” Zhang said.