Nigeria's First Bank gains approval for China office

LAGOS, July 3 (Reuters) - Nigeria's First Bank (FBNP.LG: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday it had won regulatory approval from China to set up office in Beijing, making it the first Nigerian bank to start operations in one of the world's fastest growing economies.

First Bank said the China Banking Regulatory Commission (CBRC), the country's financial services authority, had granted it permission to open a representative office in Beijing after carrying out due diligence checks on the firm.

"The milestone is an exciting turning point in our bank's history," First Bank Managing Director Bisi Onasanya said in a statement.

Consolidation has cut the number of banks in Africa's most populous nation -- and its biggest oil producer -- to 24 from more than three times that number over the past few years.

Before the global downturn set in, the survivors tapped international and local markets to raise capital and grow their businesses at home and abroad, although few have so far ventured beyond Africa, the United States and the United Kingdom.

First Bank, which established Nigeria's first fully-fledged subsidiary bank in the United Kingdom in 2002 and also has a presence in France and South Africa, said the approval would allow it to benefit from increasing China-Africa trade flows.

China depends on Africa -- the world's eighth biggest oil exporter -- for some 30 percent of oil imports and has invested heavily in top producers Nigeria and Angola.

First Bank already has banking relationships with Chinese institutions including a partnership with Shenzhen Energy Group, which is building a $2.4 billion gas turbine power plant in Nigeria, and an MOU with China Construction Bank covering global banking collaboration. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: af.reuters.com/ ) (Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by David Cowell)