The piece “Standard bank builds on experience to develop Malawi’s minerals sector” featured below was initially published in Malawi’s Mining Review Issue Number 22 2015 that is circulating this February 2015.
The full edition can be read here: Mining Review No. 22 February 2015.
To learn more about this quarterly publication, edited by Marcel Chimwala, read the post about the “Voice of the mineral sector in Malawi”.
Standard bank builds on experience to develop Malawi’s minerals sector
“We are able to marry the skills of corporate finance to geology and mining”-Satar
Standard Bank says its rich pedigree in the African mining sector positions it well as a leading bank in serving the mining sector in Malawi.
The Bank’s Head of Investment Banking Shakir Satar says ever since Standard Bank’s establishment, the Bank has evolved to service key sectors and entrench itself as a key financial institution servicing the mining sector in Africa.
Satar says:
We have a strong African mineral heritage that runs deep, from exploration to logistics to risk – we see the bigger picture.
The group’s activities in mining date back to the development of the Kimberley diamond fields in 1878. Since then, Standard Bank has been a key financier in numerous landmark mining projects throughout Africa. We thus understand the industry and are able to marry the skills of corporate finance to geology and mining engineering. Our knowledge of the mining sector scratches far beneath the surface.
He reports that Standard Bank has a 151-year history in South Africa and started building a franchise in the rest of Africa in the early 1990s.
The Bank currently operates in 20 countries on the African continent, including Malawi, as well as in other selected emerging markets.
Our multi-disciplinary teams based in key financial hubs around the world strongly position us to assist our clients in dealing with the rising opportunities and associated risks and challenges in this sector. This includes advising on acquisitions and investments, raising debt and equity capital, structuring solutions and assisting in day-to-day trade flows and treasury management,
says Satar.
Some of the notable mining transactions Standard Bank have been involved in are as follows:
- In 2012, Standard Bank was one of the syndicate bank’s which released $180million in Project Finance for Paladin’s Kayelekera Uranium Project in Karonga.
- Standard Bank acted as joint lead arranger to First Quantum Minerals on their recent USD 1 billion corporate financing. The facility provides the company with funding lines for planned capital works at Kansanshi and the construction of their Sentinel Project in Zambia. The Sentinel Project has an estimated capex cost of SUD1.7 billion. First Quantum is a long standing client of the bank since the original project financing of Kansanshi in 2003.
- Standard Bank was appointed as the sole lender and arranger to De Beers Marine Namibia (“Debmarine”) on a USD70 million term facility. The proceeds of the financing would be used to fund the purchase of the Peace in Africa (“PIA”) exploration vessel from De Beers Consolidated Mine (“DBCM”). The PIA is one of the most specialised marine diamond mining vessels in the world.
We are the largest African bank with a strong presence in Malawi; being one of the few banks in Malawi with a fully dedicated Investment Banking Team,
says Satar.
He explains that in addition, as part of an international banking group, the Bank is able to structure much larger capital injections for its clients with easier access to foreign currency where need be.
Standard Bank aspires to be the leading Corporate and Investment bank in, for and across Africa with a deep specialisation in natural resources,
he says.
