Cash no problem, consesus is, for BRICS bank

Johannesburg, March 28 (IANS) A BRICS development bank will be very useful, particularly to Africa, but a major challenge that may come on its way is aligning the interest of the member countries, said experts.

"Within the BRICS group, governments are seeking tangible areas of collaborations, clearly one is its development bank. The point of BRICS bank is a very noble venture," said Martyn Davies, CEO of the market research firm Frontier Advisory.

"It will be very beneficial, particularly to the sub-Saharan Africa," Davies said at a seminar organised by his company in partnership with Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

The matter is on the agenda of the BRICS' -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa -- two-day summit in Delhi starting Wednesday.

Davies said the main challenges in setting up a BRICS bank will be risk management and aligning the respective interest of the member countries.

"Cash is not a problem," he added.

State Bank of India's (SBI) Africa head Mathai Vaidyan said the idea is good, but it will be very difficult to arrive at a consensus.

Tuesday's seminar themed "The Commercial Strategies of Emerging Markets and New Emerging Multinationals in Africa" was attended by senior bankers and business representatives from the BRICS nations.

The meeting shared the experiences and challenges faced by companies from BRICS countries, as well as ideas on how the emerging markets can boost investment in Africa.

"I think the challenge is the creation of efficient bureaucracy through which capital will be deployed into infrastructure development, particularly in Africa," Davies told Xinhua.

Africa head of a Brazilian company added: "If it matches the interests of all members, let's go for it."