No blank cheque for Africa expansion — FirstRand

As South Africa's major banks expand their African footprints, the race for market share has become highly competitive, but FirstRand will not enter markets just to have a presence.

- Liesl Peyper

In an interview, following the lender's annual results posting last week, CEO Mary Vilakazi said the group does not intend to get a greenfields licence "just to have a footprint somewhere".

(A greenfields licence allows a bank to establish operations in a new country from scratch, rather than entering through a merger or acquisition.)

"We say here are the places where we can play a role in the facilitation of services. Like in payments, where a banking licence is not needed," she said.