Societe Generale Ghana holds Chinese desk business banquet

Societe Generale Ghana organised a Business Banquet for the Bank’s Chinese clients at the Tang Palace Hotel. The event which took place on Friday 25th November 2016, had in attendance over 80 major Chinese Companies.

A host of dignitaries from both the Diplomatic Corp and the Chinese Business community were in attendance. Some of these distinguished guests were; the Chinese Ambassador to Ghana, H.E. Ms. Sun Baohong; the Counsellor of the Economic and Commercial Office of the Chinese Embassy, H.E. Mr. Chai Zhijing; and the Chairman of Chinese Enterprises Chamber of Commerce in Ghana and the Managing Director of Huawei, Mr. Lui Kang.

Welcoming the guests to the event, Mr. Sionle Yeo the Managing Director of Societe Generale Ghana gave an overview of the current business environment stating that, “In today’s fast changing business environment, it had become increasingly important for businesses to study and adjust to emerging economic and developmental trends towards identifying emerging investment and business opportunities”.Mr. Yeo said that the Bank was poised to ensure that all the unique needs of its clients were well catered for and was organising this forum to deepen its relationship with the Chinese business community in Ghana and support of their business development with a host of new tailor made and innovative solutions.

Mr. Yeo further assured the Chinese Business community that the Bank will continue to put the Group’s international expertise in support of their businesses to enable them take full advantage of the opportunities that the Ghanaian economy offers for their financial prosperity. He thanked all the guests for their attendance and ushered in the Chinese Ambassador to give her address.

Addressing the forum, Her Excellency, Mrs. Sun Baohong iterated the Chinese Government continued support of the Ghanaian Economy and the growth of the existing relationship between the two countries. H.E. Mrs. Sun Baohong spoke about the new drivers of international economic growth and the current downturn being experienced by most of the bigger economies. H.E. Mrs. Sun Baohong iterated the goal of the Chinese government to increase bilateral trade and Investments between both countries; the possibility of new projects with medium and long-term impact. She stated that better cooperation between both countries would lead to a win-win cooperation with mutual benefits for all. Finally, H.E. Mrs. Sun Baohong thanked Societe Generale Ghana for its platform and asked the Chinese business community to take advantage of this forum.

In his address, the Chairman of Chinese Enterprises Chamber of Commerce in Ghana, Mr. Lui Kang, spoke about the oil prices pressures and its strain on the economy, but praised Ghana’s stability and conducive business environment. Mr. Kang commended the bank for creating this platforms and urged the Chinese community in Ghana to use such platforms to grow their businesses through partnerships. He further stated that Chinese businesses within the country can only thrive when they cross collaborate with the local Ghanaian businesses to the benefit of the economy at large.

The address from the Head for the China-Africa Desk of Societe Generale, Mrs Cai Shujue followed the address of the Chinese Ambassador. Mrs Shujue spoke on the prospects for “Sub-Saharan Africa entering the turbulence zone after the take-off”, and on this she discussed three (3) main topics;

1. How the difficulties being experienced in the three (3) main economies within the region (South Africa, Nigeria and Angola) were hiding the good performance of the net oil importing countries;

2. The deterioration of fiscal and external accounts which comes along with a higher cost of debt as investors become more sensitive to the African risk; and

3. That even though the depreciation of the currencies has relatively little impact on Franc zones, the depreciation of FX reserves creates tension in liquidity.

Mrs Shujue indicated that Africa’s take-off had been fuelled by a combination of structural and cyclical reasons and despite current headwinds, growth remains strong. These structural factors remain real and will continue to foster growth in the medium term. In the long term, challenges will need to be addressed to create the needed opportunities for financial institutions.

Dr. James Sackey, a Consultant at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) spoke on, “the opportunities and challenges for Chinese Businesses in Ghana going into 2017”. Dr. Sackey spoke on the recent economic developments, priority issues, and emerging investment and business opportunities for Chinese Businesses.

The stability and accessibility of foreign exchange is the life blood of many foreign companies operating within the country. Regarding this critical issue, Mrs. Irene Owiredu-Akrofi - the General Manager for Treasury at Societe Generale Ghana, assured the audience good management of treasury at the bank in terms of Foreign Exchange availability to meet obligations, price uncertainty and volatility, and the drivers of spot market prices. Suffice to say that this particular session was very engaging for all the companies present.

The final presentation of the evening was on the Bank’s “Product Offering’ under its Global Transaction Banking Team and this was done by Mrs. Celestine Amison-Addy the Department Head. Mrs. Amison-Addy spoke about innovative solutions the bank makes available to its clients like Leasing and Finasia. Mrs. Amison-Addy said that Finance Leasing allows for a better usage of business capital, tax benefits, balance of cash outflows, better planning, and Off-Balance Sheet debt.

Mrs. Amison-Addy said that the Societe Generale Group's Finasia offer would enable the pre-financing of any Asian exporter's Letter of Credit, and specially the Chinese exporters, as soon as the goods are shipped, while the importer in Ghana will only pay when the Letter of Credit matures. This improves the liquidity of the Client’s business in Ghana and frees up capital to invest in other areas of growth.

The last address of the evening was given by H.E. Mr. Chai Zhijing, the Counsellor of the Economic and Commercial Office at the Chinese Embassy. H.E. Mr. Chai Zhijing spoke on the increasing cost for businesses, depreciating currency (the Ghana Cedi) and the importance of the Banking industry in ensuring stability. H.E. Zhijing stressed on businesses to cultivate a better understanding of the role banks play in the Economy, assuring that Chinese businesses will continue to collaborate with Societe Generale Ghana in the future.

The evening’s event was brought to a close by Mr. Francois Marchal, the Deputy Managing Director of Societe Generale Ghana. Mr. Marchal expressed the Bank’s gratitude to the guests for taking time off their busy schedules to participate in the evening’s business forum. Mr. Marchal said that Societe Generale Ghana will continue to go above and beyond what is offered by the competition to bring customers the very best of what Banking has to offer with tailor made solutions to support their business.

Societe Generale Ghana is encouraging all Chinese businesses to come over and enjoy the best service from its highly professional Relationship Banking Team.

Societe Generale Ghana

Societe Generale Ghana is one of the leading banks in Ghana with 42-networked branches across the country. The Bank provides Retail and Corporate clients with dedicated innovative products and services aimed at satisfying and anticipating customers' needs.

The Bank is recognized for supporting individuals and businesses of various sizes and backgrounds to achieve their full potential. The Bank is the foremost innovator in the Banking industry spearheading key reforms such as Doorstep Banking, Factoring, Cash Management, Foreign Exchange and Commodity Hedging, Consumer Credit Loan, Sika Card, Sikatel and Sikatext to meet its customers’ needs. For more information, you can visit our website www.societegenerale.com.gh or any of our Branches or call our Contact Center on 0302 214 3014 or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/societegeneralegh or email us on sgghana.info@socgen.com.

Societe Generale Group

Societe Generale is one of the largest European financial services groups. Based on a diversified universal banking model, the Group combines financial solidity with a strategy of sustainable growth, and aims to be the reference for relationship banking, recognised on its markets, close to clients, chosen for the quality and commitment of its teams.

Societe Generale has been playing a vital role in the economy for over 150 years. With more than 148,000 employees, based in 76 countries, we accompany 30 million clients throughout the world on a daily basis. Societe Generale’s teams offer advice and services to individual, corporate and institutional customers in three core businesses:

Retail banking in France with the Societe Generale branch network, Credit du Nord and Boursorama, offering a comprehensive range of multichannel financial services on the leading edge of digital innovation;

International retail banking, financial services and insurance with a presence in emerging economies and leading specialised businesses;

Corporate and investment banking, private banking, asset management and securities services, with recognised expertise, top international rankings and integrated solutions.

Societe Generale is included in the main socially responsible investment indices: DJSI (World and Europe), FTSE4Good (Global and Europe), Euronext Vigeo (Global, Europe, Eurozone and France), ESI Excellence (Europe) from Ethibel and 4 of the STOXX ESG Leaders indices.

For more information, you can follow us on twitter @societegenerale or visit our website www.societegenerale.com.