CaixaBank marks five years in South Africa with an 83.3% market share of guarantees issued to Spanish banks

CaixaBank International Banking

• CaixaBank covers the entire southern and central African region from the South African Representative Branch. The company is the only Spanish bank active in this region.
• CaixaBank's representative office in Johannesburg offers assistance in foreign trade- related matters, as well as company and corporate banking services to Spanish companies operating in and with interests in South Africa, and to South African multinational corporations and businesses operating in Spain.

CaixaBank's branch in South Africa is celebrating this year its fifth anniversary in South Africa, where it has established itself as the go-to bank for Spanish companies based in South Africa, and for South African companies with interests in Spain.

The company opened its representative office in Johannesburg in 2016, covering the entire southern and central African region - Nigeria, Benin, Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Namibia, South Africa, Angola, Mauritius and Madagascar. It is the only Spanish bank active in this geographical area.

The branch offers assistance in foreign trade, corporate banking and commercial banking to its Spanish customers with interests in central and southern Africa as well as to companies and corporations from the region with interests in Spain. Its main business includes trade finance (post and pre-financing), project finance, bilateral agreements, and syndicated loans.

In the field of trade finance, at the end of the third quarter of 2021, CaixaBank had an 83.3% market share in guarantees issued, meaning that more than four out of five guarantees issued to Spanish companies from banks in the region are processed through CaixaBank. This represents a growth of 18.5 percentage points over the same period in 2020.

In terms of guarantees received in Spain for regional companies, the market share amounts to 70% (almost three out of four)..

The branch connects CaixaBank with local companies and financial institutions, conveying companies' needs to the corresponding teams in Spain, and supporting Spanish companies in the region in search of local banking, offering comprehensive consultancy.

In the course of the five years it has been present in South Africa, CaixaBank has participated in noteworthy operations in the continent. From this branch, in 2019, CaixaBank's first Bank Finance operation was completed and in its first year in the country, it participated in the largest A+B loan with the African Development Bank to fund one of Africa's biggest utilities. Other noteworthy operations include the syndicated corporate loan to Pharmacare Holdings, funding the fight to combat the pandemic on the continent.

Furthermore, during its five-year presence, through its representative branch in South Africa, CaixaBank has also worked to foster business relationships between the two countries, through partnerships with institutions such as the ICEX and the Spanish Embassy in the country. CaixaBank holds the Presidency of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in South Africa and is a member of the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Mozambique.

In terms of social commitment, the representative branch is participating in Streetlight Schools, an innovative and trailblazing educational project based on educational programs in New Zealand and Finland. In just three years, the school, located in a disadvantaged area of the country, has achieved the best educational standards in South Africa.

South Africa is one of the countries offering major opportunities to Spanish companies as a result of its long-standing history as an investment hub in the south of the continent. The country ranks 60th in the Global Competitiveness Index (from a total of 141 countries) and is 84th in the Doing Business 2020 ranking (from a total of 190 countries).

Representatives of CaixaBank's team in South Africa

CaixaBank's international presence

CaixaBank's international presence is channelled in different ways: through its International Banking network of branches and representative offices, all over the world; and through cooperation agreements with first-rate international banks. The financial institution also owns Portugal's Banco BPI, the fifth largest financial institution operating in Portugal in terms of assets.

CaixaBank's CIB & IB network comprises branches in Germany, France, Morocco, Poland, Portugal, the United Kingdom, all of them, with the exception of Portugal, authorised by the Spanish and local regulator to provide certain financial services related to financing and banking services, such as short- and long-term financing, factoring, reverse factoring, and other similar activities within this field.

The institution has 18 representative branches on all five continents: Milan (Italy), Istanbul (Turkey), Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong (China), Singapore, Dubai (United Arab Emirates), New Delhi (India), Cairo (Egypt), Algiers (Algeria), Johannesburg (South Africa), New York (USA), Santiago de Chile (Chile), Bogotá (Colombia), Sao Paulo (Brazil), Lima (Peru), Sydney (Australia) and Toronto (Canada). It also has two Spanish Desk teams in Austria's Erste Bank (Vienna) and Mexico's Inbursa (Mexico City), to serve CaixaBank business customers in these markets.

The representative branches offer advice to multinational enterprises with subsidiaries in Spain, as well as to Spanish companies with projects abroad. Its main areas of coverage notably feature trade finance and payments, corporate and project finance.

CaixaBank's International Banking network is the only AENOR-certified international banking network in Spain.

Besides its branch network, CaixaBank holds agreements with 1,700 correspondent banks, making it easier for companies from any country in the world to engage in international transactions and foreign trade.

About CaixaBank

CaixaBank is the leading financial group in Spain and one of the most significant in Portugal, where it controls 100% of BPI. The bank has 21 million customers in the Iberian market, and the largest commercial network on the Iberian peninsula with more than 6,100 branches and more than 15,000 ATMs.

CaixaBank is committed to a socially-responsible universal banking model, based on trust, quality, and specialised products and services adapted to each segment. Its mission is to contribute to the financial well-being of its clients and to support the progress of society.