Source: www.ameinfo.com
Morocco’s Attijariwafa bank and Abu Dhabi investment manager Invest AD plan to launch together a managed fund to invest in African listed equities as part of a Memorandum of Understanding signed on Tuesday in Casablanca.
United Arab Emirates: Wednesday, November 14 – 2012
Attijariwafa bank and Invest AD will jointly seed the fund which will be co-managed by Wafa Gestion (Attijariwafa bank’s asset management arm) and Invest AD Asset Management. The fund will be managed from Invest AD’s new licensed office in the Casablanca Financial City in Morocco.
Under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding, Attijariwafa bank and Invest AD will also introduce to each other investment opportunities in the Middle East and Africa, notably through the DIFC subsidiary of Attijariwafa bank in the Middle East. Attijariwafa bank will also provide brokerage and corporate banking services to Invest AD in its key African markets.
“The fund will leverage on the African platform of the bank and rely on the operational research, brokerage, asset management, and trading operations of the capital markets division of the group in North and West Africa”, said Chakib Erquizi, Chairman of Attijariwafa bank Middle East Ltd and Global Head of Capital Markets, after signing the agreement in Casablanca, in presence of Messrs. Mohamed El Kettani and Boubker Jai, respectively Chairman and CEO and Co-CEO of Attijariwafa bank Group.
Nazem Al Kudsi, Chief Executive Officer of Invest AD, said he was impressed by Attijariwafa bank’s ambition and the bank’s growth into a pan-African business. Attijariwafa has subsidiaries in Burkina Faso, Tunisia, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Cameroon, Gabon and Congo Brazzaville as well as branches in the GCC and Europe. “Africa’s economic emergence is being driven by rising incomes and living standards across a broad cross-section of society, and across the whole continent – and this is partly due to increasing intra-regional trade and business links,” Al Kudsi said. “The Sahara desert no longer divides Africa.”
In a recent survey of 158 global institutional investors by Invest AD and the Economist Intelligence Unit, a majority of respondents believed Africa will be the most attractive emerging market for investment over the next decade.By 2016, all intend to have some investment in Africa, with a third expecting to allocate at least five percent of their total funds to the continent. Currently, almost half of respondents say they have either no exposure, or less than a one percent allocation to Africa.
Invest AD, an investor in the Middle East and Africa for over 30 years, manages UCITS IV-compliant equities and fixed income funds, as well as private equity funds.
Notes and media contacts
About Attijariwafa bank
Attijariwafa bank is based in Morocco and operates in 23 countries. It has a strong presence across Africa (Tunisia, Senegal, Burkina-Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Ivory Coast, Congo, Gabon and Cameroon) and in Europe (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Spain). In addition to its banking activity, the Group provides a wide spectrum of financial services through several subsidiaries: insurance, mortgage, consumer credit, fast transfers, leasing, factoring, stock brokerage, asset management, M&A and market advisory. (www.attijariwafabank.com)
About Invest AD
Established in 1977, Invest AD is a leading Abu Dhabi-based financial services company, focused on tapping the growth markets of the Middle East and Africa. Invest AD offers investors access to private equity, listed equity and fixed income opportunities in these regions, blending international best practice with intimate knowledge of the markets, networks and dynamics of each country. Any of Invest AD MEA Limited, its associates and/or their employees may have a position in any security mentioned in this article. (www.investad.com)
Contact:
Dominic Whiting
Brunswick Group
+971 56 174 0293
This story was posted by Rana Mesbah
Wednesday, November 14 – 2012 at 14:23 UAE local time (GMT+4)
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