Stanbic IBTC Bank PLC, a subsidiary of Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, has reiterated its commitment to facilitating the best business deals between African importers and Chinese exporters through its Africa-China Trade Solutions (ACTS), thereby fostering international trade.
This was disclosed at the recent Africa-China Trade Solutions webinar organised by the Bank.
The event offers a platform for interaction between Nigerian and African importers and their Chinese counterparts, providing an avenue for trade discussions and networking on trade, export, and commodity finance for participants.
The virtual ACTS webinar themed ‘Facilitating Africa-China Trade: The Role of Stanbic IBTC’ had seasoned panellists on board. This included Muyiwa Oni, Regional Head of Equity Research, West Africa, Standard Bank Group; Luthando Vuba, Head, Africa China Trade, Standard Bank Group; Mike Zheng, Overseas Manager, Zhejiang International Trading Supply Chain, and Omoyemi Chukwurah, Managing Director, Seams and Stitches Nigeria Limited.
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They discussed opportunities as well as challenges of Africa-China trade.
The impact of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on Africa-China trade was also evaluated, while the role of Stanbic IBTC and Standard Bank in facilitating trading activities for clients in the face of prevalent challenges were highlighted.
Mr Wole Adeniyi, Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Bank, described the Africa China Trade Solutions as one of Stanbic IBTC’s most preferred client value propositions, facilitating cross-border trade between Nigerian and Chinese clients exporters.
Mr Adeniyi said, “We believe that African importers who specialise in the importation of goods from Asia, particularly from China, have found this session useful as it addressed many of the concerns of African traders in terms of losing your products or revenue in the course of doing business. We connect clients to opportunities through ACTS.
We connect African buyers/importers to Chinese suppliers and African suppliers to buying opportunities in China. We connect our clients to seamless Africa-China Trade.”
He emphasised that “Stanbic IBTC Bank relates with its clients from initiating the business transactions with the supplier to validating the products to ascertain the quality, thus taking full responsibility on behalf of its customers who do not necessarily have to be in China.”
Dr Demola Sogunle, Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, allayed the fears of current and prospective African importers, noting that: “Stanbic IBTC has an import partner, Guomao, which guarantees product quality and the veracity of the transactions”.
He said: “We believe that taking advantage of this will give you, our clients, a competitive edge in the marketplace whilst growing your businesses. We believe that this proposition is of immense value to our customers.
We implore qualified businesses operating in Nigeria and across Africa that are willing to deal with China to take advantage of the opportunities that these solutions bring to you”.
In the same vein, Mr Luthando Vuba, Head, Africa China Trade, Standard Bank Group, said that the Africa-China Trade Solutions was a one-stop-shop for African importers to easily connect with Chinese suppliers through the Bank’s import partner, Guomao.
Mr Luthando pointed out that: “importers can get favourable payment terms once the goods are ready to be shipped, emphasising that Guomao as its import partner, provides Stanbic IBTC’s customers with additional support by undertaking an inspection of the products to ensure that the quality and quantity are in order.”
The webinar had a panel session where issues surrounding the business opportunities and challenges confronting the Africa-China trade as well as the negative impact of COVID-19 on international trade were raised.
The Africa China Trade Solutions is one of Stanbic IBTC’s key value propositions to help its clients engage in international trade with China.
Stanbic IBTC meets the needs of such clients by leveraging its relationship with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) to facilitate its trade transactions and thus grow the businesses.
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