Terence Sibiya, Corporate & Investment Banking Director at Standard Bank, talks to Ian Armitage about how the bank is helping to build the “Africa of tomorrow”.

By Ian Armitage

The African decade is upon us. As China continues to boom we will see the Chinese offer more large-scale infrastructure development to African governments in return for natural resources and farmland to support it’s vast population. The Americans and Europe also want in.

In turn, African countries are challenging old perceptions of corruption and violence through practicing better governance. Ghana is one of Africa’s strongest democracies and very much the leader in this respect. African countries will continue to veer in favour of increased prosperity and the picture continues to be replacement of Western aid for Africa by Eastern trade with Africa.

This represents an opportunity for South Africa, which has already inked a series of trade and energy deals with China.

“We are committed to making a difference to financial services in South Africa and the other select emerging markets,” says Terence Sibiya, Corporate & Investment Banking Director at Standard Bank, speaking to South Africa Magazine about the bank’s plans for the continent and how it aims to play a role in all this. Ghana, he says, is expected to grow at an amazing 20 percent rate in 2011, while strong growth in emerging markets is driving demand for infrastructure.

“The challenge for financial institutions is to finance these projects competitively and sustainably,” Sibiya explains. “It is all about building the Africa of tomorrow. With the 2010 World Cup in South Africa and the huge infrastructure spend that prompted we have had a great opportunity to perfect funding models that can unlock the infrastructure bottleneck that exists in the pan-African space. Standard Bank Group is one of the big four full-service South African banks and we have a wide representation which spans 18 African countries and 21 countries outside of Africa with an emerging markets focus. We are in a great position.”

Sibiya was previously the director and head of global foreign exchange sales at Standard Bank of SA and has been with the banking institution since 2005, when he assumed the position of senior manager, corporate finance. The following year he became director and head, strategic equity investments. He has also worked for US-based consultancy firm Aurora Associates International as a project manager and for Total SA as head of strategy and services.

“We, as Standard Bank, do a lot to support infrastructure development and it is a major part of our future focus,” he continues. “To give you an example, we have been strong supporters of the Airports Company of South Africa’s (ACSA) vision of providing the gateway to Africa. ACSA embarked on a drive to deliver efficient capacity expansion to match forecast passenger growth and meet the traffic demands for the 2010 World Cup and beyond. To deliver on this goal, it required finance and we are proud to have been able to partner with ACSA in two financial deals. In 2007, we were the joint lead manager in a bond issue – worth R2 billion - to raise capital for airport expansion. That same year, we were joint arranger of a R12 billion domestic medium-term note programme. The capital was used to upgrade two major international airports - OR Tambo and Cape Town - and construct the KingShaka International airport in KwaZulu Natal.”

Airports, Sibiya says, are the gateways to countries. They play a vital role in forming travellers' perceptions and can make or break a travelling experience. For that reason they are appealing investments. “ACSA has done an excellent job in South Africa,” he explains. “It has come a long way since 1993, when it was formed and is now a shining example of a successful State Owned Entity. Others can learn a lot from this example.”

ACSA has proved that Africa is catching up with the rest of the world and with more infrastructure projects on the cards across Africa, Standard Bank aims to continue to help to “Build the Africa of tomorrow”.

“Why you should talk to Standard Bank?” Sibiya says. “It is a good question. For one, we have participated in numerous regionally important infrastructure projects on the African continent. We have in-depth knowledge and we customise innovative financing solutions to meet our clients' individual requirements. We also have extensive experience in arranging export credit for projects involving cross-border investments, specialising in customised political and market risk structuring involving single or multi-sourced export finance, political risk insurance and development finance products. Most significantly, we have established a track record in advising on major projects in Africa.

“Infrastructure will help build the Africa of tomorrow; Standard Bank is committed to laying a foundation from which we can all build and develop Africa,” Sibiya concludes. “There are lots of opportunities. Kenya is a great one. The government has hastened the expansion of airports and we have the experience to help with that. We are also looking at projects in Nigeria and the DRC, with a proposed new international hub in Kinshasa particularly appealing. Ghana, too, is full of opportunity, and there is huge opportunity in Angola as well.”

With the help of Standard Bank, Africa, it seems, is set to boom.

To learn more visit www.standardbank.co.za.

South Africa Magazine Issue 11