The future is electric
First Bank of Nigeria will make better use of the Nigeria-China currency swap agreement to promote the relationship of the two countries and increase business opportunities, an official said on Monday.
First Bank Chief Representative Officer Andy Wang told the Xinhua News Agency that the bank aims to be the bridge between Nigerian and Chinese businesses as it aims to push forward the partnership.
This, according to Wang, will help improve efficiency in trade transactions between the two countries, without being exposed to the challenge of seeking another foreign currency.
He spoke on the sidelines of the bank’s Chinese Customer Forum organized to discuss how to improve business by leveraging the recently executed Bilateral Currency Swap Agreement.
The Central Bank of Nigeria on April 27 signed a $2.5 billion currency swap agreement with the People’s Bank of China, China’s central bank.
The primary aim is to provide adequate local currency liquidity to Nigerian and Chinese industrialists and also assist in both countries’ foreign exchange reserves management.
Wang said that First Bank, as one of the authorized dealers, is experienced and competent enough to handle the Chinese yuan and the Nigerian naira deal, after the opening of a representative office in Beijing 10 years ago.
With this, the First Bank became the first Nigerian bank to establish a presence in China and has over the years developed strategic relationships with major Chinese players in Nigeria.
“Before now, we had been providing several services to our Chinese and Nigerian customers through our representative Beijing office, so the new agreement will help us improve on that business relationship,” Wang told Xinhua.
According to him, the deal will also help Nigeria position itself as a trading hub with China in the West African sub-region, noting that the agreement will provide naira liquidity to Chinese firms looking to do business with Nigeria and provide yuan liquidity to Nigerian firms looking to do business with China.