Citigroup, Inc (NYSE: C) Says Africa Provides a “Sweet Spot”

Citigroup, Inc (NYSE: C) said that Africa’s population of 1 billion people is creating a new “sweet spot” for financial companies.

“A lot of the demographics here in Africa are exactly what financial services institutions are looking for as the sweet spot,” commented Citigroup Chairman Dick Parsons in an interview at the Fortune Global Forum in Cape Town, Africa last week.

The New York-based bank plans to fund more transactions in Africa and to take on more clients which fall in the lender’s target market. The company is also looking to get more organic growth in Nigeria and also sees Angola as an opportunity for growth.

“Africa is one of the most interesting” and “fastest growing” of emerging markets, Parsons said, adding that Nigeria is “particularly” interesting. ‘Given the demographic trends, given the presence of so much of the world’s natural resource base here, there is huge opportunity and it’s high margin,” he said.

Indonesia is another country which may have “big opportunities” for Citigroup, the chairman said.

“Citi has a broad-band network that reaches out to all developing and emerging markets across the globe, and our job is to fill up the pipes in terms of services and products that our customers need, including Russia,” Parsons said. “Our CEO, Vikram Pandit, was just in Russia meeting” with President Dmitry Medvedev about the “creation of stronger domestic capital markets within Russia,” he said.