Investment banks eye the last frontier: Africa

DELE BABADE, HEAD of the newly launched investment banking arm of pan-African group Ecobank, is optimistic about the sector’s prospects. “Never underestimate the opportunities in Africa,” he says. In illustration he recounts a recent whirlwind tour of five East African countries in five days. In Rwanda, he says, one day of meetings resulted in about $600 million-worth of potential deals in project finance, international equity placements and M&A. Global investment banking heads are revising their strategies in Africa.