StanChart plans $100m bank expansion in Ghana, other African countries

Standard Chartered Bank has earmark at least $100 million investment to expansion of its operations in key African countries including Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya alongside five other core markets over the next three years.

The bank also said it will be making substantial hires across both the Wholesale and Consumer Banking business, including over 900 sales staff in the Consumer Banking business across the continent.

The bank disclosed these, October 9, 2012 at its inaugural Africa Investor Day conference on the Group’s aspirations for the region.

“The Group will invest over $100 million on 110 new branches in Ghana, Kenya and, Nigeria alongside five other core markets over the next three years,” StanChart said in a statement.

According to the bank, the investment spend will also be accelerated in mobile payments technology, physical infrastructure, staff hires, establishing new onshore presences and deepening existing ones.

At the conference, Diana Layfield, Standard Chartered’s CEO for Africa, set out the vision for the African franchise over the next five years against a backdrop of how far the business has travelled to date.

“At $1.34 billion in 2011, Africa currently accounts for 8% of Group income,” she said.

“This is a business which is enormously well-positioned. We see a real opportunity to capture a larger share of the increasing ‘south-south’ trade links between Africa and Asian countries including India, China and South Korea,” Layfield added.

According to her, as Africa becomes more globalised, very few banks have a Pan African footprint that is integrated fully with a global network.

Standard Chartered currently covers 37 markets in Africa – 15 on a full presence basis and 22 further markets on a transaction basis following its clients; providing extensive reach across the continent, thereby covering 92% of sub-Saharan African GDP.

By Ekow Quandzie