Nomura has stepped up its efforts in South Africa by opening its first dedicated office in the country and hiring the founders of a decade-old local advisory boutique – with which it has had a crossborder M&A partnership – to lead its investment banking efforts there.

The Japanese bank said in a March 22 statement it will open Nomura South Africa, a branch office in Cape Town, on April 4 to offer local and international companies doing deals in South Africa advice on mergers and acquisitions as well as running the financing of transactions. It will also act as a platform for Nomura to expand into and across sub-Saharan Africa, the bank said.