Monday was Clifford Sacks’ first day as Ceo South Africa and head of Pan-African equities for Renaissance Capital, the Russian investment bank that is expanding aggressively in emerging markets. Before joining RenCap, Sacks, who is South African, was co-Ceo for SA and Sub-Saharan Africa at BoA Merrill Lynch, a well-respected investment banker with twenty years’ experience and a deep knowledge of African equities.

His task is to open and staff a South Africa office for RenCap, which since 2007 has built up a presence in five African countries but not in the continent’s economic powerhouse. The SA office will act as a conduit for the increasing number of South African companies that plan to invest in Sub-Saharan Africa, and it will focus on metals and mining, oil and gas, financials and telecommunications.

“Our goal is not to be all things to all people. The focus on these four industries builds on our existing emerging markets platform in these sectors across research, sales and trading, capital markets and M&A. They are also where we see the strongest demand from clients,” says Andy Lowe, Renaissance Capital Ceo for Africa. “With the addition of a South Africa operation, we now have an unrivaled pan-African investment banking franchise.”

RenCap has also just hired Ali Khalpey, formerly at Investec, as managing director and head of African sales. Sacks now plans to recruit 25 people this year and more next year. “We are looking for research analysts, as research is very important to our approach, and also investment banking professionals across business lines with strong experience in the four sectors we focus on,” says Moscow-based Rencap spokesman Quinn Martin. “Most people will come from Johannesburg but we are casting our net widely, looking for people who are ready for a new challenge. People will want to join us because we have an incredible platform in existence in Africa and we have a strong entrepreneurial culture, which means that people who deliver results can rise quickly through the ranks.”

Martin will not comment on salaries and packages offered, but says that Sacks has been given carte blanche to hire the best talent on the market and pay “competitive rates”. “I cannot comment on what Clifford must have moved for, but many of the international banks have increased their basic salaries and this has raised the bar somewhat,” says Phryne Williams, director of Capital Assignments, a financial services recruitment firm.

“RenCap are on a huge expansion drive,” says Williams. “My sense at the moment is that Africa is the flavour of the month and many companies are expanding their business initiatives to include Africa. Many of them are recruiting analysts to cover the sector as well as exploring the possibility of joint ventures with brokers on the continent. Some brokers are also considering buying broking firms in Africa.”