XTB, a Poland-based online forex and CFDs broker, has announced that it will begin its trading activities in South Africa in the second half of the year at the earliest. However, Pawel Szejko, an XTB Board Member for financial affairs, said that the group’s current priority is to develop its presence in Middle Eastern countries. In January 2021, XTB established a subsidiary XTB MENA in the United Arab Emirates, and it began operations at the end of July last year.
The United Arab Emirates has become a regional hub for XTB through which the broker reaches clients from the entire MENA region (the Middle East and North Africa) with its offer of financial instruments. The company is looking at this region from a long-term perspective, as it is majorly interested in gaining the trust of clients from Arab countries. The region contributed more than PLN 5 million (US$1.2 million) to the group's revenue in the second half of 2021.
In August 2021, the subsidiary XTB Africa (PTY) Limited obtained a license to operate in South Africa.
Szejko stated: "The Middle East is a priority for us at the moment, which means we are directing a lot of effort and resources into developing this market. This means that we have to wait a bit longer for South Africa. We will probably return to the topic of South Africa, but it will not be sooner than in the second half of this year, and maybe even a little later."
