ABC-Congo Joint-venture Bank Officially Opens

On February 26, the Ceremony for the Opening of Sino-Congolese Bank for Africa (SCBA) and Ground Breaking of the Office Building was held in Brazzaville, capital of the Republic of Congo (Congo). Gong Chao, Vice President of Agricultural Bank of China Limited (ABC), led a delegation to the ceremony and delivered a speech. Congo’s President Joseph Kabila Kabange laid foundation stone of the Office Building. Also present were over 600 representatives, including Xia Huang (Chinese Ambassador to Congo), governmental officials of Congo, representatives from some large and medium-size enterprises, representatives from Chinese enterprises in Congo, and overseas Chinese representatives.
Mr. Gong Chao said that, the SCBA was established with the support of two governments. As the first financial cooperation between both countries, the SCBA opened a new mode of friendly cooperation, bearing great significance historically and strategically. As the shareholder and strategic partner of the SCBA, ABC has always given high priority to its construction and development, actively fulfilled commitments and responsibilities and provided product and technical support in an all-around way. It has also been committed to promoting the internationalization of RMB in Central Africa.  ABC hoped that the SCBA would play the active roles of bridgehead and tie in African financial services, boost economic and financial development of Congo and serve the Congolese people and Sino-Congolese cooperation, establishing itself a model of successful Sino-Congolese cooperation. 

It’s learnt that the SCBA was proposed by President Joseph Kabila Kabange during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Congo in March 2013, and its establishment was advanced with the support of them. In June 2014, under the witness of the two presidents, ABC and the Congolese Government signed the Cooperation Agreement for establishing the joint venture bank. After nearly one year’s efforts of both sides in IT, business procedure, rules and regulations, staff team building and other aspects, the SCBA was opened to the public in July 2015. The establishment of the SCBA marked the result of visits of two heads, demonstrated Sino-African financial cooperation and served the overall interests of national political, economic and diplomatic cooperation. ABC also becomes the first Chinese commercial bank to develop financial cooperation with Central African states.
The establishment of the SCBA was also the strategic choice made by ABC in overseas arrangement. Guided by national economic and diplomatic strategies and based on actual conditions, ABC focused on overseas development in the countries and regions along the “Belt and Road” and in Africa. It has identified target markets, made steady progress in institution arrangement, and built differentiated overseas service platforms with its own characteristics, in a bid to enhance its capability in globally integrated financial services. So far, ABC has set up 17 institutions and one joint venture bank in 15 countries and regions in Asia, Europe, the Americas, Oceania and Africa.  The establishment of a business institution in Central Africa not only fills the arrangement gap in Africa but also realizes the goal of differentiated arrangement and operation of overseas institutions. It enjoys broad prospects with certain commercial value and sustainability.
With the missions of serving the economy and finance of Congo, elevating its overall financial development to a new high and assisting it in building a modern financial system, the SCBA is committed to serving local enterprises and residents of Congo and providing all-round products and services (such as corporate banking, retail banking, international trade finance and financial market) for Chinese enterprises in Congo and the Chinese that do business or work in Africa. It is also able to handle various businesses for Chinese enterprises in Congo, including deposit, loan, foreign currency exchange, international remittance, guarantees, clearings, etc. The SCBA will continue to improve its products, services and risk control systems/mechanisms and establish itself an important modern commercial bank in Central Africa, with a view to making even more contributions to Sino-Congolese economic and financial development.