South Africa's Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) has opened an advisory office in Beijing, aimed at strengthening ties with Chinese corporates and supporting growing investment into African markets
The launch of Rand Merchant Advisory Company Limited comes as trade between China and Africa exceeds US$350bn, an all-time high, reflecting deepening commercial links across infrastructure, energy and industrial development.
The Beijing office is expected to provide Chinese companies with on-the-ground advisory support as they explore opportunities across Africa, offering expertise in corporate finance, cross-border banking, foreign exchange and structured capital.
Emrie Brown, RMB’s CEO, said it marks an important milestone in the group’s Africa-China corridor strategy.
“It brings us closer to Chinese corporates to connect them more effectively with opportunity across our African network,” said Brown.
“Our focus is on helping clients navigate cross-border trade, transactional banking, foreign exchange, and investment flows with the benefit of local insight and deep African market expertise.”
For African economies, the move signals continued confidence in the continent as a destination for Chinese investment.
The Africa-China corridor’s growth continues to be anchored by “monumental infrastructure investment”, RMB said in a statement, and a rapidly evolving green energy landscape.
Over the past decade, Chinese enterprises have constructed or renovated over 10,000 km of railway and 100,000 km of highways across Africa.
While Chinese firms have traditionally focused on transport and infrastructure projects, investment is increasingly expanding into renewable energy, manufacturing and other sectors that support broader industrialisation.
As China itself transitions under global climate agreements, “massive opportunities” have emerged for Rand Merchant Advisory to partner with Chinese contractors to lead sustainable finance initiatives across African markets.
The bank said Chinese contractors have participated in around 70% of the renewable energy projects it has concluded in recent years, underlining China’s growing role in Africa’s own energy transition.
RMB said the expansion combines its investment banking capabilities with First National Bank’s (FNB) transactional banking platform, which already serves more than 4,000 Chinese business accounts across South Africa and the wider continent.
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Chinese investment in Africa is at an all-time high (Image source: Adobe Stock)
