British multinational bank Standard Chartered has decided to change its earlier decision to offload only its wealth and retail business in Botswana, with the group now putting the entire business up for sale — in a move most likely to draw the attention of South African banking majors looking to grow earnings outside their home market.
The mooted sale will now include the corporate and investment banking unit, a money spinner for many banks.
The backtrack by Standard Chartered comes as potential suitors for the asset pressed on having the business in its entirety and not the part sums of it.
The sale of the entire process is now expected to take as long as 15 months. South African lenders Absa and FirstRand have already reached agreements to buy Standard Chartered’s Uganda and Zambia businesses, respectively.
“The strength and attractiveness of the full Standard Chartered Botswana franchise is a testament to the hard work of the entire team, and we remain committed to securing the best possible outcome for them, our clients, and our shareholders,” Mpho Masupe, CEO of Standard Chartered Botswana, said in a statement.
“We strongly believe that Standard Chartered Botswana is well-placed to thrive under new ownership with the necessary local scale.”
Absa, FirstRand, Standard Bank and Nedbank all have a presence in Botswana
The British banking major in 2024 laid out plans to exit wealth and retail operations in Botswana, Uganda and Zambia to free up capital amid a broad shake-up.
Absa, which is looking to wean itself off dependence on South Africa, Kenya and Ghana for earnings, snapped up the Uganda assets, while FirstRand captured the Zambian business.
Standard Chartered has already exited or scaled back in markets including Zimbabwe, Angola, Cameroon, Gambia and Sierra Leone.
Dalu Ajene, head of coverage and CEO at Standard Chartered Africa, said the continent remains core to its network.
“Over the last three years we’ve seen wealth assets under management in sub-Saharan Africa more than double from $1.7bn to $4bn driven by growth in our affluent franchise in Kenya and Nigeria.”
The scaling back of Standard Chartered is part of a bigger retreat by European banks faced with stiff competition from domestic players.
British multinational bank HSBC in 2024 decided to exit South Africa as international players battle to establish a presence in a market local lenders dominate.
The move saw the group transfer its clients and banking assets and liabilities to FirstRand and Absa, with its South Africa-based employees crossing the floor to FirstRand.
French multinational BNP Paribas wound down its corporate and investment banking services in South Africa two years ago, ending its 12-year presence in the country.
Fitch, in a 2024 report, said it expected European banks, particularly French banks, to ramp up divestments from Africa.
It said French and other multinational banks operating in Africa, particularly in retail and corporate and investment banking, had to contend with established South African, Nigerian and Moroccan pan-African banking groups, with Standard Bank particularly dominating corporate and investment banking.
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