Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) has disclosed plans to open an office in Africa’s largest economy, Nigeria. MCB’s Head of Corporate & Institutional Banking, Thierry Hebraud, disclosed this news in the ongoing Africa CEO Forum in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire. He told Reuters that the COVID-19 pandemic had delayed the expansion plan. But the company is now moving forward with the process and is expected to obtain an approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria in a few months.
Mauritius Commercial Bank (MCB) will seek to expand beyond oil and gas deals to cover renewables and mining, a senior executive said. MCB, which has $850 million in exposure in Nigeria, already has representative offices in Nairobi and Johannesburg as part of its push into Africa, in addition to its offices in Dubai and Paris.
“Today, more than 50% of our balance sheet is outside Mauritius, and the major part is in Africa,” he said. “I believe within the next couple of months, we will be operating the new representative office in Nigeria.” The MCB is already present in Kenya and Johannesburg, but also in Paris and Dubai
Hebraud said the bank now focused on structured finance in the upstream and downstream oil and gas industry and the oil trade, and was looking to expand into renewables and mining.
Until now, it has handled deals from its Port Louis headquarters including assisting Nigerian companies as they move to acquire assets put on sale by international oil firms.
“We believe we’ll continue to grow in the oil and gas sector, but at a slower pace. We’ll definitely grow in the energy and infrastructure,” he said.
