From Bloomberg

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. is considering opening offices in Kenya and Morocco to boost its African business as Japanese companies seek natural resource and infrastructure-related opportunities on the continent, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

Japan’s largest bank has begun studying the possibility of opening the offices in the countries and no decision has been made, the person said, asking not to be identified because the deliberations are private. MUFG is also considering increasing staff numbers at its offices in South Africa and Egypt, according to the person.

Expanding the office network may help the bank to gather the information it needs to support Japanese companies operating in Africa, a region with diverse economies and governments, the person said. MUFG currently manages operations such as project finance in Africa from its regional headquarters in London.

Jun Watanabe, a spokesman for MUFG in Tokyo, declined to comment.

MUFG signed cooperation agreements with investment agencies in Morocco and Kenya this year, as low growth prospects at home prompt Japan’s biggest lenders to look overseas for profit. Japan will invest $30 billion to boost Africa’s economic growth and infrastructure over the next three years, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said in August at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development held in Nairobi, Kenya’s capital.

Read more at  Bloomberg