The Economist: Africa's banking boom - Scrambled in Africa

“Now everyone’s looking at Africa,” says Jacko Maree, Standard Bank’s boss. In January Bank of China, the country’s most international outfit, entered into a pact with Ecobank, which operates in 31 African countries. Chinese staff will drum up business from local branches. In August Brazil’s Bradesco and state-controlled Banco do Brasil announced a new African holding company with Banco Espirito Santo (BES), a Portuguese firm active in Angola. And HSBC is in talks to buy Nedbank, a South African bank. William Mills, who runs Citigroup in Africa, Europe and the Middle East, says the continent is becoming “more and more competitive”. read more...

Brazil's state bank, partners push into Africa

Brazil's biggest state-run bank and two other partners announced an expansion in Africa on Monday in the latest sign of growing financial links between emerging markets.

Banco do Brasil, Latin America's largest bank by assets, said in a regulatory filing it will team with local private-sector giant Banco Bradesco and Portugal's Banco Espirito Santo (BES) to tap Africa's growing appetite for consumer loans, credit cards and other products.
"The African continent is the future," Finance Minister Guido Mantega said. read more...

Ecobank Signs Pact With Bank Of China

With the desk, Ecobank’s Chinese customers would have access to the resources of both banks, including seconded staff of the Bank of China, which would remove language and cultural barriers that Chinese banking clients tend to face in Africa. read more...