By Agency Reporter

United Bank for Africa Plc, a Nigerian lender with operations in several countries in the continent, said that it would reopen its business in Ivory Coast from May 2.

According to Bloomberg, the Lagos-based bank has been making a “notional” loss of N50m ($322,000) a month since it shut its operations in Ivory Coast amid political turmoil, Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, an executive director at the bank, told reporters on Thursday.

“We do not foresee any loan losses arising from closure there,” he said in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital.

A disputed presidential election on November 28 sparked armed conflict that forced many foreign companies, including banks, to close down in the world’s top cocoa producer.

Shaun Gamble, a London-based spokesman at Standard Chartered Plc, said that there were no plans to reopen operations in Ivory Coast yet. Societe Generale SA said in an e-mail on Wednesday that “we hope to re-commence activity as soon as possible” and the “safety of our staff and clients remains our primary

 

Source: Punch