GHANA: The Ecobank Group and the Bank of China open the first China Desk to provide banking services to Chinese and Ghanaian companies interested in doing business with each other

Record ID: 562421

  • Title: GHANA: The Ecobank Group and the Bank of China open the first China Desk to provide banking services to Chinese and Ghanaian companies interested in doing business with each other
  • Date: 12th April 2011
  • Summary: ACCRA, GHANA (APRIL 11, 201) (REUTERS) HANNAH TETTEH, GHANA MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRIES, GAO WENZHI, CHINESE EMBASSY ECONOMIC COUNSELLOR AND ARNOLD EKPE, ECOBANK GROUP CHIEF EXECUTIVE, WALKING INTO ROOM OFFICIALS SEATED TETTEH, GAO, EKPE AND OTHER OFFICIALS SEATED EKPE SEATED CHINESE OFFICIALS SEATED (SOUNDBITE) (English) HANNAH TETTEH, GHANA MINISTER OF TRADE AND INDUSTRIES SAYING: "Today is the beginning perhaps a very auspicious relationship that will continue to grow between Ghana and China, now that there is the facility for us to have successful banking relations with each other as well." CHINESE OFFICIALS SEATED TETTEH AND ARNOLD EKPE WIDE VIEW OF THE PRESS CONFERENCE TETTEH AND GAO LEAVING (SOUNDBITE) (English) ALBERT ESSIEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE BANKING AT THE ECOBANK GROUP SAYING: "This is a landmark event by all standards, it is the first time you have a much more structured informal way of engaging a bank in China through an arrangement of a Chinese desk." GHANA AND CHINA FLAGS WITH INSCRIPTION READING, "CHINESE DESK AT ECOBANK GHANA" (SOUNDBITE) (English) ALBERT ESSIEN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF CORPORATE BANKING AT THE ECOBANK GROUP SAYING: "We are not going to limit ourselves to specific sizes of transaction, we will handle any transaction that makes a good business case and make sure that we facilitate and intermediate as financial advisers." PEOPLE LEAVING
  • Embargoed: 27th April 2011 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Ghana, Ghana
  • Country: Ghana
  • Topics: Finance
  • Reuters ID: LVABIA6JTF5ZDA2Y1CDUTJOFG87S
  • Story Text: The Ecobank Group and the Bank of China have jointly opened the first China Desk at Ecobank Ghana to provide banking services to Chinese companies doing business in Ghana and also to Ghanaian businessmen who have or want to do business in China.
    The desk will be located in Accra and include two Ecobank employees and two senior staff from the Bank of China.
    It is a manifestation of an agreement between Ecobank and Bank of China in 2009 and subsequent signing of a pact in July, 2010.
    Speaking at the launch, Ghana's Minister for Trade and Industries, Hannah Tetteh said the move would bolster business ties and friendship between the two nations.
    "Today is the beginning perhaps a very auspicious relationship that will continue to grow between Ghana and China, now that there is the facility for us to have successful banking relations with each other as well," she said.
    Funds are expected to be channelled through Ecobank for infrastructure projects in Ghana and other countries in the region, especially Liberia and Sierra Leone where largescale reconstruction projects are taking place.
    China has invested heavily in projects across Africa in the last few years as it seeks to secure resources to fuel its own rapid economic growth.
    "This is a landmark event by all standards, it is the first time you have a much more structured informal way of engaging a bank in China through an arrangement of a Chinese desk," said Albert Essien, Executive Director of Corporate Banking at Ecobank.
    He said the desk will have the capacity to deal with person to person transactions as well as large scale business deals.
    "We are not going to limit ourselves to specific sizes of transaction, we will handle any transaction that makes a good business case and make sure that we facilitate and intermediate as financial advisers," Essien said.
    Ecobank Ghana has already facilitated Chinese support for Ghana and other African countries in recent years, including a 600 million US dollar electricity project.
    Last year, Ghana signed a 13 billion US dollar loan facility agreement with China -- one of China's biggest financial commitments in Africa to date -- to fund energy, agriculture and transport projects.
    Ghana has so far drawn 2.85 billion US dollars from the loan facility to fund road construction.
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