Standard Chartered joins Barclays in move to Johannesburg

Standard Chartered Plc, the U.K bank which cut bonuses and boosted its dividend after profit rose, is relocating its African business to Johannesburg from Dubai as it seeks to take advantage of higher growth rates on the continent.

Traders covering Africa from Dubai will move “in due course” to South Africa’s largest city, bank spokeswoman Vicki Robinson said in an e-mailed response to questions yesterday. Private equity, transaction banking and project finance teams covering Africa have already moved to Johannesburg, she said.

Competitor Barclays Plc (BARC), which controls South Africa’s Absa Group Ltd. (ASA), closed its Africa headquarters in Dubai in 2011 and relocated staff to Johannesburg to work more closely with the local bank. Standard Chartered’s income from Africa rose 15 percent last year to $1.59 billion, with 10 countries post- ing growth of more than 10 percent, including Kenya, which gained 34 percent, and South Africa, which rose 28 percent, the bank said.

The London-based lender, with operations in 16 African countries, plans to invest $100 million over the next three years opening 110 branches on the continent and recruiting 950 consumer-banking staff, Robinson said. Revenue from Africa made up more than 8 percent of income last year, the bank said.

Standard Chartered has been operating in Africa for more than 150 years and entered the United Arab Emirates in 1958, according to the bank’s website. It employs more than 2,300 people in the U.A.E and prior to the relocation had over 200 traders in Dubai.

The bank said in October it plans to double revenue at its African business within five years. The lender, which gets most of its profit from Asia, has been expanding in Africa, India and China, where economies are outpacing many developed nations.