By Agency Reporter

Wednesday, 8 Dec 2010

The Chief Executive Officer, Citigroup Incorporated, Mr. Vikram Pandit, visits South Africa and Nigeria this week, as international banks look for African deals to compensate for slower growth in developed economies.

Pandit’s trip to the continent’s biggest economies, his first business visit to Africa, will include meetings with government and business leaders. Joanne Smith, a Johannesburg-based spokeswoman for the lender, said in an e-mailed response to questions on Monday. It follows a similar trip by JPMorgan Chase & Co. CEO Jamie Dimon toward the end of November.

“Africa sticks out as the frontier market and the next area for growth,” Patrick Mathidi, an investment adviser at Johannesburg-based RMB Asset Management, said. Visits by heads of some of the world’s biggest banks have been spurred on by the global financial crisis which left lenders searching for yield and growth in the emerging world, he said.

Citigroup, which has 200 million customer accounts, and JPMorgan, both based in New York, have announced their intentions to grow in Africa.

Source: Punch