Standard Bank Group plans to double the size of its West African business by 2030, a senior executive said. Africa’s biggest lender wants to grow in Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast, where economic reforms are lifting growth.
Earnings from West Africa are now about half the size of the bank’s South African operations. The Johannesburg-based lender wants the region to reach roughly the same scale as its home market, said Luvuyo Masinda, its head of corporate and investment banking.
“One of the things we will want is that for this west Africa region to as quickly as possible be the same size as South African business,” Masinda said in an interview reported by Moneyweb.
“If you speak to the teams here, they have an ambition to double this business in the next four years,” he said.
Masinda said Standard Bank has room to grow by taking up the chances opening in West Africa. “When we think about our own business as Standard Bank Group, we believe we are slightly sub-scale for the opportunities that exist in this market,” he said.
The bank wants to invest in and put together deals in power, renewable energy, ports and other hard infrastructure in the region. Masinda said it will use the parent company’s balance sheet. It will also reach global money through its offices in New York, Dubai, London and Beijing.
The bank is also looking to hire new staff in the region. Masinda said it plans to use fintech to win more retail clients and small and medium-sized businesses.
Nigeria is West Africa’s biggest economy and Africa’s most populous country. Investors are moving into its natural resources and infrastructure sectors. This follows reforms in the foreign exchange market, the wider economy and the energy industry, which have lifted investor confidence.
Ivory Coast, one of the region’s fastest-growing economies, offers similar prospects. Ghana is recovering from a sovereign debt default in 2022 and 2023. Inflation there is steadying, interest rates are lower and the local currency is more stable.
Outside West Africa, Standard Bank is aiming for growth in countries including Kenya, Angola and Egypt, Masinda said.
He said better rules in countries with floating, open exchange rates and steady monetary policy are drawing in financing and private equity. “It’s happening not just in Nigeria, it’s happening in a number of other countries,” he said. “That, more than anything, is attractive to capital.”
Masinda said there are “quite a lot” of initial public offerings planned across retail, fintech, telecommunications and infrastructure. Some listings have slowed because company valuations are changing.
He added that conflict in the Middle East “doesn’t help because it alters prices and it delays, it makes people less confident.”
Source: this article is based on reporting by Moneyweb. Image: Moneyweb. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Business desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Anelisa Nkuna covers business and money news for Tzaneen Voice. Anelisa reports on the rand, fuel prices, interest rates, jobs, Eskom, Transnet, farming and company results. The aim is simple: explain what the numbers mean for household budgets, small businesses and workers in South Africa.