Huge growth for private banking in Africa
Africa's bright growth prospects and the steady increase in the numbers of high net worth individuals in the continent are acting as a magnet to private bankers. Several Western banks are beefing up their teams to exploit these new pools of wealth, recruiting people both in their headquarters and in loco to deepen coverage and client service.
Barclays Wealth, for example, has added six private bankers to its Africa team: Chris Hocking, who after spending two years on secondment with Absa, the South African bank controlled by Barclays, has been named head of the team; Nimi Akinkugbe, former head of private client services at Stanbic IBTC, who will cover Nigeria and West Africa; Banou Malonga, who joins after stints at Credit Suisse's Ultra High Net Worth team and covering Africa for Goldman Sachs. Three more people, Linda Asafo-Agyei, Segun Okubanjo and Diaraye Diallo have joined the London-based Africa team at the International Private Bank EMEA.
"These appointments cement Barclays Wealth's ongoing commitment to the Africa region and our overall drive to attract the very best talent to serve our clients," says Emmanuel Fievet, Head of the International Private Bank. Barclays Wealth already has a presence in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana and South Africa through Absa Wealth, but it intends to double that presence and grow the size of its team, doubling the headcount over the next three years.
"We have an extremely solid team and the new additions have valuable insight into the opportunities available in existing and new markets within West Africa," says Hocking. "It is a very exciting market and there are many considerable opportunities in Africa."
Barclays is not alone: JPMorgan is increasing its wealth management teams in the EMEA region by 15 to 20% a year over the next three years and has already started to hire across all levels, private bankers, wealth advisors and client service specialists. The wealth management arms of Standard Chartered and HSBC are also beefing up their emerging market teams with a special focus on Africa.
Credit Suisse has hired Alexander Langen, formerly at EFG Private Bank, to be the first director of its private banking division in South Africa. RBS Coutts, Royal Bank of Scotland's private banking arm, has also been reviewing its Africa strategy: "We applied for a license in South Africa and we see a potential for growth in this market," says Stephan Wehrle from the group's HQ in Zurich.
