Nigerias National grid may have collapsed again. Please spare a thought for remote workers in the country today. Away from our struggles in Nigeria, our reporter Ngozi Chukwu is live at GITEX. If you are attending, please say hello! Well bring you updates from Dubai.
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- Lendsqr launches ?1 billion fund for sub-lenders
- Dubai traffic blues and dejavu at GITEX
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- Jobs
After 12 years of wait, US banking giant JP Morgan Chase has secured an operating licence from the Central Bank of Kenya CBK to open a representative office in Nairobi. While the representative office wont be able to handle transactions like a regular bank, it will market JP Morgans banking and advisory services.
Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan CEO, said in the past that the bank would concentrate on big-ticket deals from the government and large multinationals with headquarters in the country. JP Morgan has been a lead arranger alongside CitiBank for the three Eurobonds that Kenya has issued.
Large international banks are also following their foreign customers who are setting shop on the continent, and whose capital needs local banks cannot meet. Local banks are restricted by the relatively small capital base, which makes it difficult to finance large infrastructural projects or multinational expansions. The entry could help East African countries secure syndicated loans to fund big projects like railways and roads.
The bank could take advantage of Kenyas membership in the East African Community EAC to access other markets in the region. JP Morgans expansion into Kenya continues its inroads on the continent. The lender already has offices in Nigeria and South Africa.
