On 15th July 2008, at 5 bis rue du Cirque, the street adjacent to Elysée Palace and just a skip and a hop from the Champs Elysées, FBN Bank Ltd. officially opened its Paris branch. The leading Nigerian bank in terms of capital continues to conquer Africa and the world at large. During the inauguration held in the bank’s spacious offices, Peter S. Hinson, managing director of FBN Bank in London, Christiana Etukudo-Fashogbon, executive director of Business Development and Frédéric Le Bourgeois, the new managing director of the Paris branch, explained the strategy behind the group’s opening of this new branch.

Les Afriques: Why would a Nigerian bank such as FBN make Paris a priority in its plans for international expansion?

Peter S. Hinson: FBN is a major bank in Nigeria and its London office was created 25 years ago. In 2002, that bureau became a bank subsidiary under the British entity, FSA. For years, we focused solely on Nigeria and on Nigerian trade with the rest of the world. But a bank that wishes to expand globally cannot be so focused on a single country. So, we decided to diversify internationally. And for us, our most logical region for expansion would have been West Africa that has a mixture of French-speaking and English-speaking countries. However, if London is the obvious centre for English-speaking countries, Paris is the heart of the French-speaking world. You cannot attempt to expand in these markets without being present in Paris. The decision to come was therefore and easy one. This branch will be our hub for French-speaking countries of West Africa and North Africa, including Egypt.

LA: What types of banking services will FBN BANK’s Paris branch develop?

Frédéric Le Bourgeois: FBN London works primarily in financial trade, corporate finance and private banking for affluent Africans. The full complement of banking services is available to this diaspora and English-speaking Africa. And since November 2002, the date the establishment’s status as a legitimate bank was approved, the bank has maintained an annual growth rate of 30 – 40%. With the exception of private banking, the Paris branch will be providing all these services. We are not in retail banking. We don’t have a fund and have no intention to be involved in the diaspora’s savings. France is the second major investor in Nigeria but the diaspora there isn’t considerable in size though language barrier remains problematic. The Paris branch will act as a platform to French-speaking Africa by proposing correspondent and corporate banking. The goal is to claim a portion of documentary credit transactions from Western Africa that do not go through London.

LA: What are your objectives?

Christiana Etukudo-Fashogbon: Our priority is to establish our correspondent banking activities. By the end of the year, we should be partnered with 10 banks in the French-speaking region and three years from now this figure should reach 40 or 50 banks. But corporate banking development is directly linked to correspondent banking because the entities that work with these banks in various countries, importing goods, must also provide services. We have an amount of realised documentary credit that is quite impressive given the size of our bank. This sets us apart from other establishments. We are also targeting government clientele and semi-public enterprises that import a lot of goods and equipment have substantial commercial activities.

LA: Have you got branches in international locations other than London and Paris?

Christiana Etukudo-Fashogbon: For the last two years, FBN has had representation in China. America is another option we may look into soon.

LA: Why did you choose to expand internationally despite being barely present in Africa?

Peter S. Hinson: We do have representative offices in South Africa, in Johannesburg, which should eventually become branches. We have submitted an application to the South African authorities and hope to receive our licence by the end of the year. This would cover South Africa and a few East African countries as well. FBN is a very conservative bank and will not expand in certain areas until the time is right. I think spreading your logo across the continent is not necessarily the most efficient approach to have. The bank must expand carefully but should soon do so elsewhere in Africa. As you know, we have been negotiating with Ecobank Transnational Incorporated for two years now. If this merger takes place, the joint banks will have representation in 16 countries throughout the continent. FBN will await the outcome of these talks before pursuing the creation of other branches on the continent.