South Africa’s Standard Bank has offices in Ivory Coast and plans to use its presence there as a launchpad to access the rest of francophone West Africa, StarAfrica reports.

“Our clients are increasing presence and exposure to West francophone Africa and we plan to follow them” said Greg Goeller with the bank’s corporate and investment banking unit.

Standard Chartered opened its Ivory Coast office in Abidjan in November to service its 145 clients with operations in francophone Africa, StarAfrica reports.

Their operations include mining, oil and gas, infrastructure, power and energy and fast-moving consumer goods.

The region is about to experience an investment boom thanks to foreign companies lured by economic growth and mineral wealth, the bank said Friday in a statement.

Francophone West Africa isn’t well-known to South Africans but cannot be ignored because it has economic potential, Goeller said.

Goeller said the region has all the components to benefit from the next global mining and infrastructure boom, which will lead to economic growth in other sectors.

Countries united under the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) include Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal, and Togo.

Standard Bank is one of largest financial services institutions in South Africa and operates in 32 countries including 19 in Africa, according to the report.