Africa Desk

Switzerland and Africa

Switzerland is one of Africa's most important partners in commodity trading and finance. Geneva and Zug are home to trading houses that buy African oil, metals and agricultural products, Swiss banks finance a large part of that trade, and Swiss refineries process a large share of the continent's gold. At the same time, Swiss companies are increasingly used as neutral contracting vehicles in African infrastructure, energy and mining projects that involve Chinese, Gulf and European partners.

For an African group, the Swiss company is rarely the operating business. It is the holding, trading or contracting entity that sits between the project on the ground and its international lenders, offtakers and partners. Swiss company law is predictable, Swiss courts and arbitral tribunals are accepted by all sides, and Swiss law is often chosen to govern offtake, supply and financing agreements even where none of the parties is Swiss.

What Swiss banks and partners expect

Swiss banks and trading houses apply their strictest know-your-customer standards to African business. Expect questions about every beneficial owner, the origin of the funds, the buyers of the goods and any politically exposed persons in the ownership or management. A clear structure chart, audited accounts and documented contracts decide whether an account is opened or declined.

Substance matters as much as paperwork. A Swiss company with a real office, qualified directors and decisions taken in Switzerland is treated as Swiss by banks and tax authorities; a letterbox company is not. Sanctions, export controls and the Swiss due diligence duties for conflict minerals and gold have to be built into the trading model from the start.