DRC Bank To Open In South Sudan
Raw Bank, a leading financial institution in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has unveiled plans to extend its services to the new market in the Republic of South Sudan. 21 May 2013 By Peter Lokale Nakimangole JUBA, 21 May 2013 [Gurtong] – The bank’s director and head of marketing, Mustafa Rawji described the investment opportunities in South Sudan as enormous, saying joining it is high on their agenda as they step up efforts to regionalize the bank. According to Mr. Rawji, Congo Brazzaville, Uganda and South Africa are other countries that the bank hopes to expand to. “What made us a leading post-conflict bank in the DRC is, we were able to adopt our financial products to the needs of the realities of the local market,” said Rawji during a recent visit to South Sudan’s capital Juba. Since it opened its first doors in 2002, Raw Bank is said to have grown to become the biggest bank in DRC in terms of total assets and total deposits. The bank currently comprises of 40 branches all over DRC with about 50 Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) centres. Rawji said as a post-conflict country, South Sudan’s challenges are not different from what DRC experienced ten years ago. “We have developed a favorable opinion on investing here considering the realities on the ground. Though the final decision will have to be reached by the Bank’s board of Directors”, he said. He said the bank has tailored products such as “Ladies First” which he said was able to produce the greatest number of women entrepreneurs in the DRC. The head of the delegation who is also the Bank’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Thierry Taeymans described their visit as a ‘successful after holding several meetings with government representatives, the standing Committee on Economic and Financial Affairs, the Presidential Adviser on Economic Affairs as well as the Deputy Governor of South Sudan Central Bank.. They also held meetings with the World Bank as well as the International Financial Corporation (IFC), a member of World Bank that offers investment, advisory, and asset management services to encourage private sector development in developing countries. Rawji commended the level of cooperation his group received from the IFC in coordinating and introducing them to the ‘right people with the right information.’ “If it was not because of the World Bank and IFC, these three days would have not been so successful”, said Rwaji. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "South Sudan Info - The Kob" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/SouthSudanKob/CAJb14orTfhOHzA%3Dx0ciXy39Lyv1bw6CRA%2BAGrQ%2Bbd41kQo_HoA%40mail.gmail.com?hl=en-US. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
