ECOBANK TANZANIA LAUNCHES ‘CHINA DIRECT’ INITIATIVE AND UNVEILS STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP WITH BANK OF CHINA

Mr. Enoch Osei-Safo Managing Director Ecobank Tanzania adressing invited guests at the China Direct initiative launch

Mr. Bertrand Jandoh,Regional Account Manager & Acting Head of Corporate Banking at Ecobank Tanzania adressing guests at the China Direct initiative launch.

Deputy Managing Director Bank of China-Zambia giving a speech at the China Direct initiative launch by Ecobank-Tanzania.

Mr.Enoch Osei-Safo introducing Ms.Wenzai Dai the Chinese liaison officer at the Ecobank Tanzania China Desk.

Deputy Managing Director Bank of China-Zambia (right),Assistant Manager of Banking BOC-Zambia,Ms.Wang Hao interacting with members of the Chinese business community in Tanzania.

Invited guest+applauding the launch of Ecobank Tanzania's China Direct Initiative launch that will facilitate increased trade+and investment between Tanzania and China.

Members of the Chinese business community in Tanzania discussing investment trends with Ecobank-Tanzania staff.

Ecobank Tanzania Limited (ETZ), a subsidiary of  Ecobank Transnational Incorporated launched its ‘China Direct’ initiative at a cocktail event held at the New Africa Hotel, Dar es Salaam, attracting Chinese businesses including ETZ clients and Bank of China (Zambia). 

ETZ also used the occasion to announce its strategic partnership with the Bank of China (Zambia) which will allow the latter to leverage Ecobank Group’s platform to service the needs of its customers and clients doing business in Tanzania and the wider EAC and SADC regions. 

Ecobank introduced its new China Desk liaison officer Jennifer at the event. Special guests at the event were Mr. Lin Zhiyong the Chief Representative of the Economic and Commercial Representation of the Peoples Republic of China in the United Republic of Tanzania and the Bank of China (Zambia) delegation led by their Deputy Managing Director, Mr. Liu Xiaofei. 

ETZ’s ‘China Direct’ initiative addresses the current void in the market at a time when trade and investment between China and Tanzania have been growing at an exponential rate. Trade hit $2.5 billion in 2012  while investments approached $1 billion in 2013. 

It is evident that with greater strategic support and market information, the volume of trade and investments along the Sino-Tanzanian corridor can grow to higher levels. . ETZ’s China Direct initiative is aimed at providing the ‘one-stop shop’ facility across the China-Tanzania corridor to reduce hassle costs and improve decision-making for  businesspeople. 

“ Our end-to-end platform across the Sino-Tanzanian corridor is unique in the sense that we don’t rely on a third party as we are on the ground in China. This one-stop shop arrangement is cost-effective and provides convenience for our customers. However, if push comes to shove and you need to transact with a Chinese bank, the Bank of China platform will be at your disposal” says Enoch Osei-Safo, the Managing Director, Ecobank Tanzania Limited.   

The Chief Economic and Commercial representative of the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania expressed his delight at this initiative by ETZ citing the bottlenecks that this would address. “Economic relationship between Tanzania and China have risen to new heights and this is underscored by the fact that Tanzania is the first African country that President Xi Jinping chose to visit when he assumed office. 

We applaud ETZ’s  innovative approach at supporting direct trade and investment between Tanzania and China. Establishing the end-to-end platform on both sides of the corridor while leveraging the strategic partnership with Bank of China  is a game changer for both countries from a trade and investment standpoint in the years to come” Says  Mr. Lin Zhiyong.

Last year, ETZ launched its China Desk in Tanzania and through a dedicated team supported by a Chinese liaison officer, the bank provides Chinese and Tanzanian businesses with advisory, facilitation, support and financing services. This initiative comes on  the heel of the Ecobank Group opening its Beijing Representative office in 2012 under the oversight of Ms. Lu Xiaoning, to offer advisory, facilitation and support services to Chinese businesses operating across  Africa. 

Ms. Lu Xiaoning also doubles as the Global Account Manager (GAM), which essentially makes her the single point of contact across the Ecobank Group for Chinese businesses seeking to do business in Africa. The synergy between the Ecobank platforms in Tanzania and China is enhanced by ETZ’s proven capability to offer RMB (renminbi) trading and settlement solutions to its Chinese businesses. 

“The decision to forge this partnership with Ecobank Tanzania was a straight forward one. Ecobank is the only bank in Tanzania that has a dedicated Chinese desk with a Chinese resource person, is equipped to trade in the RMB and has on-the-ground presence in China. To top this all, by virtue of the Ecobank.

 Group’s unrivalled footprint across 35 African countries, ETZ is the defacto financial gateway to EAC and SADC from China atoning for our lack of physical presence in this region while addressing this gap in our existing delivery platform.” says Mr. Liu Xiaofei, the Deputy Managing Director of Bank of China (Zambia). “In Africa, we have a presence in Zambia and South Africa but it is relevant to know that Bank of China (BOC) has a desk within Ecobank in Ghana run by BOC staff from China”.

Ms. Wenzai Dai was introduced at the event as ETZ’s new Chinese Liaison Officer. Following a video presentation in Chinese  by Ms. Lu Xiaoning (GAM), the ETZ and the Bank of China officials received feedback at the cocktail on how the strategic alliance can be further strengthened to the benefit of the business community. “For more than 25 years, our Group has successfully linked people, governments and businesses doing business across Africa from a banking standpoint. 

Now that this is a given, we have moved to the next level by linking up the last frontier with China, who has by and large emerged as the leading trading and investment partner with Africa. For all businesses that have waited in vain and suffered the inconvenience, ‘China Direct’ has now arrived. This is Ecobank Inakuwezesha in the Chinese context.” says Mr. Osei-Safo.