Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) is continuing its development to its structured trade and commodity finance (STCF) team by promoting Adriaan Els.

Els takes on the role of head of STCF for Africa and merchanting at the South African bank’s head office in Johannesburg.

He is tasked with originating and structuring STCF facilities and designing structures for companies which may not have a balance sheet large enough to support traditional borrowing.

Els joined RMB seven years ago and has significant experience in structuring transactions, negotiating term sheets and managing the deal implementation process.

“I look forward to continuing with our current initiatives and exploring new opportunities in line with [RMB’s parent group] FirstRand’s African expansion strategy,” Els says.

In November, RMB promoted Gregory Havermahl to head of STCF, responsible for all elements of the bank’s Africa-related deals with India and China.

The bank adds in a statement: “Africa is an important target market for RMB which aims to play a bigger role on the continent while using its presence in India and China to capture flows from other continents.”