Botswana ducks StanChart down scaling
Botswana is not affected by Standard Chartered Bank Group’s decision to scale down its operations and reduce expenses in Africa and Middle East countries.
Last week, the London based Standard Chartered PLC Group, released a statement announcing its plans to refocus and simplify its presence in Africa and Middle East region. “Subject to regulatory approval, the Group now intends to exit onshore operations in seven markets in AME and in a further two markets will focus solely on its Corporate, Commercial and Institutional Banking (“CCIB”) business.”
The Group is currently present in 59 markets and serves clients in a further 83. The markets that will be exited generated around one percent of total Group 2021 income and a similar proportion of profit before tax. The seven markets where there will be a full exit of operations are Angola, Cameroon, Gambia, Jordan, Lebanon, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. In Tanzania and Cote d’Ivoire, the Consumer, Private and Business Banking businesses will be exited and the focus will turn solely to CCIB.
In Response to BG Business Standard Chartered Bank Botswana Head of Corporate Affairs and Brand and Marketing, Bame Moremong said the bank operations in Botswana are not affected by these changes. “Botswana has not been affected by any of the changes. Standard Chartered continues to operate in 18 markets across Africa and Middle East, ( 10 of these are in Africa) and AME remains an important region for Standard Chartered.”
In its full year ended December 2021, the 125 year old bank in Botswana recorded a profit of P60.3 million, which is 21 percent increase from P49.7 million recorded in 2020. The bank Chief Executive Officer, Mpho Masupe explained that the bank’s results reflect a slight improvement in business momentum responding positively to the gradual economic recovery, following the peak of covid- 19 pandemic in 2020 and early 2021. He said the ongoing Covid- 19 pandemic remains a significant threat with a direct impact on productivity and business momentum. “Despite this challenging backdrop, the bank delivered a resilient performance, with profit before tax up by 42 percent. Income was marginally down by two percent, weighed down by a drop in interest income. The low interest rate environment coupled with market liquidity constraints contributed significantly to low margins with a resultant four percent drop in interest income. However, the bank returned to top line growth in the second half of the year.”
He said the bank will continue to digitize its products and services with the intent to deliver world class solutions. In line with this digital agenda, the bank started the year on a good note as it officially launched the Straight2Bank NextGen ( S2B NG) into the market which is an upgrade to the award winning S2B online banking platform and provides clients with superior and flexible online banking. “The Bank has navigated its way through the height of the covid- 19 pandemic and shall continue to be agile and ready to adapt to a constantly changing landscape. We are confident that we will deliver on our 2022 strategy, building on 2021 business momentum which is steadily returning to pre- covid levels in line with the recovery of the economy.”