Gilbert Ekugbe
Afrinvest West Africa Limited has stated that Nigeria is yet to fully take advantage of the opportunities that lies in investment banking, noting that there is still a lot of room for growth and investment opportunities for players in the industry.
The Group Managing Director, Afrinvest West Africa Limited, Mr. Ike Chioke, at a press conference to announce the future of Afrinvest to its old and new stakeholders and plans to launch its 2022 banking sector report on the 26th of October, 2022, said some of the global investment banks across the globe have continued to record trillions of dollars in turnover and billions of dollars in profits, but expressed optimism that Nigeria’s investment banking industry has the capacity to tap into the global investment banking space.
“I think our humble ambition at Afrinvest is to be the Goldman Sachs of Africa and just under 200 employees and seven companies, there is still a lot of room for growth, but the journey of 1000 miles starts with one step. The new Afrinvest identity is going to be unveiled. We have plans to go internationally and we have already begun the process of setting up offshore entities that will allow us from there begin to make acquisitions in different parts of Africa to allow the business to get the scale and capacity it needs for more growth momentum going forward,” he said.
Speaking on the future of Afrinvest, he called Afrinvest Sparkle, Chioke said is a combination of multiple projects to present an opportunity to showcase the firm in a new way, adding that the event would also provide an opportunity for its stakeholders to be appraised of both the old, the present and the future of Afrinvest.
“Today, we have seen operating companies with Trustee technology firm, asset management, issuing house and investment research and all of that have combined together to build what is regarded as one of the leading investment banking firms in the country. We will be doing what we have always been doing in the last 17 years which is to launch our 2022 banking sector report. We will also be celebrating our 27th anniversary and showcasing the new management of all the new companies in Afrinvest to show leadership transition,” he said.
Speaking on one of its new companies, Optimum it would be launching, he said is a new digital wealth management platform it has been working on for the last two years.
He also added that the event would also give the company the platform to unveil its new logo to signal its move into the digital investment banking to deliver effective customer services to its clients.
