The BRICS New Development Bank (NDB) is currently in the process of recruiting personnel for its Africa Regional Centre, the South African National Treasury said on Monday.

With its headquarters in Shanghai, China, the bank is in the process of establishing its Africa Regional Centre in Johannesburg, as announced by Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan in his 2016 Budget Speech, the Treasury said in a statement.

South Africans are encouraged to apply for job openings at the bank, the statement added.

The NDB's Africa Regional Centre will play an important role in funding African projects, although the headquarters will remain more influential as a whole, Simon Freemantle, a senior economist at Standard Bank, told Xinhua.

The regional centre will provide job opportunities for some South Africans, and it is also imperative for the capital shortfall facing Africa's development projects, he added.

The first batch of projects is expected in April and the bank envisages lending up to two billion U.S. dollars this year, according to statements from the NDB.

The first projects will be green energy ventures and infrastructure projects in member countries.

The world's emerging economies -- Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, known as BRICS -- launched the NDB last year with a initial subscribed capital of 50 billion U.S. dollars equally shared among the five founders.

Source: Xinhua