Spanish tycoon has got 'eyes' on West Africa

68-yer-old Spanish billionaire and business tycoon, Alberto Cortina, who is building a banking presence in West Africa is taking the opportunity of demand from sovereign and corporate clients.

Mr Cortina said he was conducting due diligence on a retail bank in Senegal after his Banque de Dakar investment bank started operations in the West African nation this month.
He was planning to set up an investment banking unit in Côte d’Ivoire by the end of the year. He and partners, which he didn't give out their names, planned to operate in the West African Economic and Monetary Union region, which he said was relatively stable politically and had a common currency, the West African CFA franc backed by the French central bank.

Mr Cortina made his wealth in construction more than forty years ago, but has strings of investments; from oil to dairy products, a dairy venture in Nigeria. He also owned a farm in Kenya for several years.