I'm based in south africa and was offered a loan of R50000 from an american in america. The only details he required from me is name~adress~contact info and later on possibly banking details. He also requires a refundable certification thing costing R1700. Loan duration is 1 year at 4 percent interest. Is cross border loaning allowed? Is it possible to conclude a loan with so little info? Is this an outright scam? He does sound legitimate though i.e. not your usual email scam promisers

Complete and utter SCAM !!!

I agree.. This is a scam.. a very obvious one.

This is as the other noted, a scam. First no one is going to loan a private person money without checking credit, and knowing how they are going to pay it back.

No one is going to offer small (this is small for international) loans this a way.

There is no such thing asking for certification. What happens, is you pay that "fee" and your money is gone and you never hear from them again.
Or even worst, you get a stolen or fake check.