New set-up for Rabobank in Africa to pool interests

Rabobank’s headquarters in Utrecht. Photo: Depositphotos.com

Dutch cooperative bank Rabo, which has a broad presence in the African agricultural sector, has joined new consortium Arise to pool the interests of its three partners in Africa, the Financieele Dagblad said on Thursday.

Arise, which now has investments in more than 20 African countries with a total valuation of $660m, expects to expand its investment portfolio to €1bn. Rabobank has a 25% stake in Arise. Its partner Dutch development bank FMO holds 27% and Norway’s Norfund own the remaining shares.

Arise bought a 27.7% stake in CAL Bank of Ghana for €24m last month. CAL had a balance sheet total of €737m in mid-2016. The bank booked after-tax profit of €14.3m in the first six months of last year.

The consortium also bought parts of Uganda-based Crane Bank for an undisclosed sum at the end of January. Crane was formerly owned by Ghana’s richest man Sudhir Ruparelia but after irregularities were discovered it was placed under the protection of the Ghana central bank.

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