Africa Expected to Become the New BRIC Markets

Kicking off the first-ever three-day U.S.-Africa Summit at the State Department and White House, President Barack Obama welcomed leaders from across the African continent saying, “I do not see the countries and peoples of Africa as a world apart; I see Africa as a fundamental part of our interconnected world – partners with America on behalf of the future we want for all of our children.”

In an effort to strengthen America’s financial foothold in Africa, President Obama announced $33 billion in commitments aimed at shifting U.S. ties with Africa toward more equal economic partnerships. “We’ve got to do better, much better,” he said. “I want Africans buying more American products and I want Americans buying more African products.”

Obama has sought to cast the U.S. as a better partner for African nations than China, arguing that his administration has a long-term interest in the continent’s success and is not simply seeking to extract resources for its own purposes. “The United States is determined to be a partner in Africa’s success,” he said. “We don’t look to Africa simply for its natural resources. We recognize Africa for its greatest resource, which is its people, their talents and their potential.”

The U.S. is hardly alone in seeing economic potential in Africa, with China, Europe and India moving aggressively to tap into Africa’s growing markets. China in particular is hungry for oil, coal and other resources and is eager to develop the roads, bridges and ports needed to pull them out of Africa.

China surpassed the U.S. as Africa’s largest trade partner right around the time of the financial crisis, and trade between China and Africa has increased ever since. On the other hand, trade between Africa and the U.S. has stagnated.

“We realize we have some catching up to do,” said Michael Bloomberg, the former New York mayor and billionaire businessman. “We are letting Europe and China go faster than the U.S.”

More and more firms are going to Africa to seek out economic opportunities that benefit themselves. Along the way, they will build infrastructure and provide much-needed jobs that will benefit African societies and enable African nations to move up the economic ladder to become the new BRIC markets.

Rani Jarkas, the Chairman of Cedrus Investments.

Rani Jarkas is a highly experienced financial services executive, with over 20 years of international banking experience. Currently, Mr. Jarkas is the Chairman of Cedrus Investments, a global boutique investment firm. Cedrus’ domain expertise is in life sciences, natural resources, energy, cleantech and nanotechnology. – Rani Jarkas

拉尼.亚卡斯(Rani Jarkas):人民币的过去与未来

中国近年来一直致力于推进人民币国际化。根据环球银行金融电信协会（SWIFT）的报告指出，人民币在2013年已成为世界上交易量最大的货币之一，位列交易量排行榜第八位。

Chinese RMB [https://ranijarkas.wordpress.com]

2007年7月，中国国家开发银行首次发行了总值6.57亿美元的点心债券。 到2010年7月，仅中国及香港的银行获准发行以人民币计价的债券。而现在，所有的银行都可发行。

2013年10月9日，中欧开启本币互换，人民币国际化跨重要一步。中国人民银行与欧洲中央银行（ECB）签署了规模为3,500亿元人民币/450亿欧元的中欧双边本币互换协议。

英国央行于2013年6月与中国达成了一项英镑与人民币之间的货币互换额度协定，额度上限为人民币2000亿元，成为第一个和中国签订双边本币互换协议的G7成员国。2014年3月，英国财政部宣布，中英两国央行已达成一致，将在伦敦设立一家人民币清算银行。中英金融合作稳步推进，伦敦人民币离岸中心的定位渐行渐近。2014年7月，伦敦金融城政府政策与资源委员会主席包墨凯(Mark Boleat)近日再度访沪，期待今后中英双方更多的贸易和金融合作，进一步提高伦敦在全球领先人民币离岸中心的地位。

自从2011年以来，投资者一直热衷于以人民币计价的资产，于是香港作为试点开展了合格境外机构投资者RQFII业务，投资者可进入中国股票和债券买卖。投资者的涉足令货币快速升值。 然而，由于中国人民银行为了遏制热钱流入而采取的措施导致了人民币在过去六个月对美元的价值持续下跌。

在我看来，近期的贬值与其他全球货币的走势相比不是很大，人民币的整体波动性仍然非常低。投资者应将目光继续投向人民币，因为从长期来看，人民币将走向完全可自由兑换。随着中国经济的发展，人民币升值将成为必然趋势

Rani Jarkas, the Chairman of Cedrus Investments.

Rani Jarkas is a highly experienced financial services executive, with over 20 years of international banking experience. Currently, Mr. Jarkas is the Chairman of Cedrus Investments, a global boutique investment firm. Cedrus’ domain expertise is in life sciences, natural resources, energy, cleantech and nanotechnology. – Rani Jarkas

Rani Jarkas: History and Future of the Renminbi

Since the late-2000s, China has sought to internationalize its official currency, the Renminbi (RMB). As of 2013, the RMB is the 8th most traded currency in the world, according to Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication (SWIFT).

Chinese RMB [https://ranijarkas.wordpress.com]

In July 2007, dim sum bonds worth a total of US$657 million were issued for the first time by China Development Bank. Until July 2010, only Chinese and Hong Kong banks were allowed to issue bonds denominated in yuan, the basic unit of the renminbi. Now all banks can.

On 9 October 2013, the central banks of China and the European Union (EU) signed the bilateral currency swap agreement with a volume of 350 billion RMB, around 45 billion euros.

In June 2013, Britain became the first G-7 country to set up an official currency swap line with China. CNBC reported in March 2014 that the U.K. has struck a deal with China to set up a renminbi clearing bank in London, as Britain tries to reinforce its position as the central hub for Chinese investment outside of Asia.

Investors have poured into renminbi-denominated assets since 2011, when the renminbi qualified foreign institutional investor scheme was established in Hong Kong, giving investors access to Chinese shares and bonds. This allowed investors to gain exposure to the rapidly appreciating currency. However, the renminbi has steadily dropped in value against the dollar during the past six months, as the People’s Bank of China has intervened to curtail hot-money inflows.

In my opinion, the recent depreciation is not very large compared with other global currency movements, and overall volatility of the renminbi remains exceptionally low. Investors should still look to invest in renminbi, because it will continue to appreciate over the long term, as China moves towards full convertibility of its currency.