Ghana International Bank aims to deepen ties with Asian investors

By Rae Wee BANGKOK, Oct 14 (Reuters) — Ghana International Bank (GHIB) is looking to attract more capital from Asia, betting that the region will become an increasingly important source of financing for Africa's growth, Chief Executive Officer Ian Greenstreet said. Asia is "very complementary to some of Africa's needs", Greenstreet told Reuters, citing deep institutional savings that can be deployed for infrastructure projects. He added that China is an "extremely important" market. The London-based bank, majority-owned by Ghana's central bank, serves as a bridge between African markets and the global financial system through corporate and institutional banking, trade financing and treasury services While the Ghana Cocoa Board's domestic debt issuance this month marked a shift away from the decades-old syndicated loan arrangement with international banks that it had traditionally relied on, Greenstreet said there was still a place for international capital The bank plans to scale up financing for crops beyond cocoa across Africa, such as cotton (Reporting by Rae Wee; Editing by Aidan Lewis) ((mailto:Rae.Wee@thomsonreuters.com;)