Western Cape Business 2020 edition

OVERVIEW
Banking
Cape Town is a fintech hub.
Inclusion, innovation and revolution, that’s the future of fintech
in Africa if the title of a conference segment held in 2019 is to
be believed.
The fact that an IT conference and exhibition included a fintech
component is significant. That it was held in Cape Town is also relevant.
Fintech is increasingly important to financial institutions. Barclays’ app
development organisation, Rise, has seven outlets around the world,
including one in Woodstock in Cape Town. A French-funded fintech
operation has been launched at Century City.
The African Institute of Financial Markets and Risk Management
(AIFMRM) aims is to meet the demands for skills by developing local
talent. It is supported by the Western Cape Provincial Government, the
University of Cape Town, Barclays Africa Group, FirstRand and Liberty.
The finance and insurance sector contributes 10.9% to provincial
GDP and is an area of the economy that shows consistent growth.
The sector outperforms most other sectors according to the
FNB Chart Book, and further growth is anticipated. New financial
services companies are starting or relocating to the Cape. These
range from asset managers to hedge funds, venture capitalists and
insurers. The financial services sector employs more than 50 000
people and the Western Cape hosts 17 companies which are listed
on the stock exchange.
The decision by the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) to open
a JSE Exchange Hub in Cape Town confirms the city’s importance in
the financial world. There are eight Cape Town-based companies in the
Top 40 Index of the JSE: Capitec Bank, Mediclinic, Naspers, Woolworths,
British American Tobacco, Remgro, Shoprite Holdings and Sanlam.
The head offices of financial firms are dotted all over Cape Town.
These include Old Mutual and Foord (Pinelands), Coronation (Newlands),
Prudential (Claremont), Sygnia (Green Point), Sanlam (Bellville) and Allan
Gray (Waterfront). PSG has its headquarters in Stellenbosch and is well
represented in rural towns. Insurers such as Santam and Metropolitan
Life are based in Bellville.
According to Wesgro, 75% of the venture capital deals that happen
in South Africa originate in the Western Cape. Most financial firms
Online Resources
Banking Association South Africa: www.banking.org.za
Financial Sector Conduct Authority: www.fsca.co.za
Insurance Institute of South Africa: www.iisa.co.za
South African Institute of Chartered Accountants: www.saica.co.za
Sector Insight
Japanese financial services
company Nomura has
started operations.
based in Cape Town have a
long history, some going back
as far as 1845 when Old Mutual
started.
The green bond issued by
the City of Cape Town is a sign
of the “climate change” times.
South Africa’s third-ever green
bond attracted bids over R4-
billion on an initial offering on
projects worth R1-billion. The
lead arranger for the bond was
Rand Merchant Bank.
A newcomer to the Cape
financial services sector is
Nomura, a Japanese financial
holding company. The company
intends expanding its services
into Southern Africa. ■
WESTERN CAPE BUSINESS 2020
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