Africa-Press – Gambia. Standard Chartered Bank to exit Gambia, Cameroon, others
Taking into perspective the non-performance of some markets within the bank’s operational presence, Standard Chartered Bank Plc has announced plans to fully vacate some African and Middle East markets.
The bank made this decision as part of its restructuring move to reposition it for excellent service delivery and better profit opportunities.
According to a press statement released on the bank’s website, “today the Group announces a set of actions to redirect resources within its Africa and Middle East (“AME”) region to those areas where it can have the greatest scale and growth potential, in order to better support its clients.”
Some of the markets the bank is going to vacate are Sierra Leone, Gambia, Zimbabwe, Angola, Cameroon, Lebanon, and Jordan.
Despite its decision to vacate some of these markets, the bank has been making an effort to have a significant presence in some of the largest and fastest-growing economies in the world, having recently opened its first branch in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and obtained preliminary approval for a banking license in the Arab Republic of Egypt.
The global banking giant, which has operations in 59 markets worldwide and has a market cap of over $15.275 billion, said the planned exits will enable it to focus resources on markets with huge potential for growth.
The bank announced that it will cease all private and business banking operations in Tanzania and the Ivory Coast, focusing solely on its corporate, commercial, and institutional banking (CCIB) operations.
The bank said that its exit from these markets is subject to regulatory approval.
Bill Winters, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank Plc, has explained that the move to exit some markets while restructuring operations in others is a way to position the bank to take full advantage of growth opportunities.
As we set out earlier in the year, we are sharpening our focus on the most significant opportunities for growth while also simplifying our business. We remain excited by a number of opportunities we see in the AME region, as illustrated by our new markets, but remain disciplined in our assessment of where we can deliver significantly improved shareholder returns. ” He said
Collectively, our actions will position the AME franchise for the next phase of growth after a very strong 2021 performance. We are grateful to our colleagues and partners in each of these impacted markets for their hard work and dedication and are committed to supporting them through this transition. ”
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