Bank of America is planning to make a large capital injection into its subsidiary Merrill Lynch South Africa.

Business Day reports the investment is to strengthen Merrill Lynch’s balance sheet ahead of a major push to diversify revenue streams and boost its research capacity.

Merrill Lynch SA chief executive officer, Marcus Heilner, told the newspaper that Bank of America had taken a long-term view on South Africa in particular and Africa in general.

Heilner said Merrill Lynch wants to expand into the rest of Africa and that Nigeria is an especially interesting proposition.