A number of lucky bankers were attending an African loans and bonds conference in the city. Sadly the conference has a policy of not admitting the press, so Rangers are not welcomed.
On Monday morning when the Ranger put in some calls to the market, we quickly found that a number of key players were unreachable.
Standard Chartered’s Ben Constable only briefly replied to an email to say that he was out to lunch with a client in Cape Town — presumably on a sun-drenched terrace overlooking the sea.
It seemed like all of Citi’s CEEMEA loans team were unavailable as they dashed between panel sessions and — the Ranger imagined — off to roof top bars to watch the sun set over beautiful scenery.
BTMU’s Raouf Jundi was unavailable for most of the week as he had a top spot opening the conference.
All the while the Ranger sat in a murky office, bashing our phone against our foreheads in frustration.
Even UniCredit’s Vlad Chiriac took the opportunity to make the Ranger jealous. Vlad wasn’t in Africa but he answered his mobile on top of the French Alps, basking in the fresh mountain air.
Now the Ranger plans to get our own back on the market by heading to the Alps herself, for some skiing! If anyone needs us, we'll be hurtling down black runs on the way to some serious après-ski. A bientôt!