FRANKFURT, Germany,
February 3, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --
Office in Abidjan starting with 5 members of
staff
Bank thus increases number of
locations in Africa to 7
Commerzbank AG is opening a representative office in
Abidjan, the economic metropolis
of Ivory Coast, thus expanding its
network on the up-and-coming African continent. This means that
Commerzbank, which has been operating in Africa since 1952 and maintains business
relations with 50 of 54 African countries, is increasing the number
of its locations on the continent to 7. Commerzbank's strategic
target is to increase its presence precisely in global growth
markets. The new representative office will be a contact for local
banks and for German and international companies in French-speaking
West Africa.
The head of the office in Abidjan, which has 5 members of staff, will be
Konrad Engber (41). In his many
years of working for Commerzbank, Engber has gathered extensive
knowledge of the special economic and cultural characteristics
prevailing on the African continent. He has already been
Commerzbank's representative in Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia, and Tripoli,
Libya.
Today Commerzbank is already the number 1 German-speaking bank
in Africa. It has customer
relations with 550 private and state-owned financial institutions,
29 central banks and sovereign wealth funds, as well as ministries
and private companies on the continent. Currently more than 100
employees work in African business operations in various areas of
the Group.
In the past few years, Ivory
Coast's economy has grown on average at rates of more than 9
per cent, boosted by a stable political framework, massive public
and private investments, and structural reforms. In addition,
economic relations between Africa
and Europe will continue to
develop dynamically. Commerzbank will participate in this growth
process. "To take this development into account, we are also going
to set up an African research hub in the new representative
office," explained Christof Gabriel Maetze, Global Head Financial
Institutions at Commerzbank AG. "The intensive exchange with our
colleagues in other African Locations and the bundling of
information allow us to come even closer to market activity on the
African continent," said Maetze.
In Africa, Commerzbank also has
representative offices in Johannesburg, Cairo, Addis
Ababa, Lagos, Tripoli, and Luanda. The Bank is represented at more than
70 locations in over 50 countries worldwide. Its Financial
Institutions division has a network comprising more than 5,000
correspondent banking relationships.
With a customer base of more than 100,000 small and medium-sized
enterprises (revenue of more than €2.5 million) and banking
relationships with just about all major German companies,
Commerzbank regards itself as a strategic partner for corporate
customers regionally, nationally in Germany, and internationally on the global
markets of Germany's strongly
export-oriented economy.
About Commerzbank
Commerzbank is a leading international commercial bank with
branches and offices in more than 50 countries.
The core markets of Commerzbank are Germany and Poland. With the business areas Private
Customers, Mittelstandsbank, Corporates & Markets, and Central
& Eastern Europe, its private
customers and corporate clients, as well as institutional
investors, profit from a comprehensive portfolio of banking and
capital market services. Commerzbank finances more than 30 per cent
of Germany's foreign trade and is
the unchallenged leader in financing for SMEs. With its
subsidiaries comdirect and Poland's mBank it owns two of the world's most
innovative online banks. With approximately 1,200 branches,
Commerzbank has one of the densest branch networks among German
private banks. In total, Commerzbank boasts approximately 15
million private customers, as well as 1 million business and
corporate clients. The Bank, which was founded in 1870, is
represented at all the world's major stock exchanges. In 2013, it
generated gross revenues of more than EUR 9
billion with an average of approximately 54,000
employees.
Press contact ~
Martin Halusa: Tel.
+49-69-136-85331
Kirsten Böddeker: Tel. +49-69-136-85466