Standard Chartered sees increased China-Africa trade due to U.S. trade war
NAIROBI, Oct 16 (Reuters) - China is likely to boost importsfrom African countries as it seeks new sources of commodities inthe wake of a trade war with the United States, a seniorexecutive of Standard Chartered Bank in China said.
Trade links between the Asian economic powerhouse andAfrican nations like Kenya have been growing robustly in recentyears, offering opportunities to lenders who serve Chineseclients doing business on the continent like Standard Chartered.
Carmen Ling, Standard Chartered's global head of theinternationalisation of the Chinese currency renminbi (RMB),cautioned there would be no winners from the trade war in theshort term, but added some African nations could gain in thelong term.
"We believe that countries like Kenya and Nigeria willbenefit because China will look to import more from Africa; some agricultural products from Kenya, some oil products fromNigeria," she told Reuters late on Monday.
"Trade flow patterns will change because China will need tolook for new trade partners."
Kenya's trade with China grew 59 percent in the four yearsto 2017, to a total of $5.2 billion, Standard Chartered said,boosting the bank's business from Chinese clients operating inKenya by "double digits".
The East African nation turned to China over the past fewyears for funds, technology and equipment to develop itsinfrastructure, including its biggest project sinceindependence, a $3.2 billion railway linking Mombasa to Nairobi,which was opened last year.
"We see more and more Chinese clients coming to Kenya, wehave seen Kenya grow in importance to become a belt and roadhub. This is the gateway ," said Ling.
She was referring to China's "One Belt, One Road"initiative, a multi-billion dollar series of infrastructureprojects upgrading land and maritime trade routes between Chinaand Europe, Asia and Africa.
The initiative has caused anger in some quarters withcritics saying it increases China's loans to African nations,placing a debt burden on future generations.
Ling decried the slow adoption of the RMB in tradesettlements for deals between China and Africa, partly blamingthe problem on lack of adequate clearing houses for thecurrency.
(Reporting by Duncan MiririEditing by Alexandra Hudson)
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