[ad_1]
An African Bank branch in Hatfield, Pretoria.
The African bank says it has signed important support and assistance agreements with its shareholders as it prepares to re-enter South Africa’s wholesale financing market.
“These support agreements will allow the Bank to formally re-enter South Africa’s wholesale financing market at market-related rates,” its CFO Gustav Raubenheimer said in a statement Monday morning.
The “new” African Bank began operations in April 2016 following the restructuring of its eponymous predecessor, which collapsed in 2014 and had to be rescued.
Its shareholders include the South African Reserve Bank, the Government Employees Pension Fund, as well as major South African banks.
On Monday, African Bank announced that its shareholders had agreed to provide support services up to a maximum cumulative amount of R8 billion if necessary.
The support period is scheduled to last from December 1, 2020 to March 31, 2024.
Raubenheimer said African Bank does not “immediately require any additional wholesale financing or increased liquidity.”
“We do not anticipate a requirement to enter the national wholesale financing market in 2020 for any listed issue, despite the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
“However, these support arrangements should provide greater comfort and confidence to South African funders for future funding requirements. The bank will continue to focus on diversifying its funding sources across its retail deposit portfolio.
“Retail deposit products continue to be attractive to savers seeking the best interest rates in the domestic market. The retail book has grown significantly in recent years totaling approximately R4.8 billion at the end of June 2020.”
