Standard Chartered has officially launched a report titled “Banking on Africa – Standard Chartered’s Social and Economic Impact” in which it highlighted a number of ways the bank could deepen its impact in Sub-Saharan Africa, including further increase of its engagement with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), by catalysing the region’s economic complexity, for example through increasing financial access for supply chain companies.
In 2013 Standard Chartered Bank commissioned an independent study by Professor Ethan Kapstein of Goergetown University, USA and Dr. Rene Kim of Steward Redqueen, The Netherlands to measure the role of Standard Chartered, and banking more broadly, in generating trade, growth and jobs in Sub-Saharan Africa (Nigeria included) and to find out what the bank can do better.
The findings in the report released by the bank recently, showed that across Sub Saharan Africa, Standard Chartered Bank directly and indirectly supports 1.9 million jobs, equivalent to around 0.6 per cent of the total workforce and contributes $10.7 billion to the economy, equivalent to 1.2 per cent of the region’s GDP.
It also showed that it supports trade worth $7.2 billion, equivalent to 1.2 per cent of total trade with the rest of the world; and supports $1.8 billion in tax payments to governments in Sub-Saharan Africa, equivalent to 1.1 per cent of total receipts of governments in the region.
The report further provides recommendations on how banks can, over time, make even greater contributions to economic growth in Africa.
Some of the recommendations include: further increasing engagement with SMEs by providing greater access to value chain finance; building on existing collaborations with the international community’s bilateral and multinational development agencies to improve local infrastructure.
Some of the ways this can be done according the report for example, is “building on the extensive work that the Bank is already doing to finance power in Africa; and continue working closely with governments and regulators to ensure a business environment that supports and encourages investment, innovation and entrepreneurship.”
The report reinforces the vital role banks can play in supporting sustainable economic development, insisting that opportunities across the continent are extraordinarily exciting and the bank is committed to playing its part in realising Africa’s potential.
It draws on quantitative and qualitative assessments by examining Standard Chartered Bank’s direct and indirect impact in 13 of its 15 Sub-Saharan Africa markets (excluding South Africa and Mauritius) to answer questions around what the wider impact of Standard Chartered’s business is on Africa’s economies.
How the bank contributes to employment, personal incomes, business profits, and tax generation across the continent as a whole and how Standard Chartered continues to help the economies in Africa remain on a positive trajectory in the future.
In addition, it assesses Standard Chartered’s impact on Africa’s trade, deploying its global network spanning 68 markets, and as the only international bank with a major presence across both Africa and Asia.
The report also focuses on four countries – Nigeria, Zambia, Kenya and Ghana (markets representing over half Standard Chartered’s African revenues).
Commenting on the report, Mrs. Bola Adesola, chief executive officer of Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria, said: “In all of our markets, Standard Chartered is committed to supporting our clients and customers, creating value for our shareholders and making a broader contribution to society. We are proud of our history in Nigeria and are determined to uphold our promise to be “Here for good” in the markets in which we operate. This report demonstrates the powerful role that Standard Chartered can and does play across Africa in social and economic development, financing growth, trade and jobs.”
Co-author of the report Dr. Kim added: “A key message of the report is that it is very important for the Nigerian economy to become more ‘complex’ – more interwoven. This complexity will put the Nigerian economy on a more sustainable growth path. Standard Chartered, with its large international footprint, can play an important role in conjunction with the private and public sectors to spur sector linkages in Nigeria’s economy.’’
Standard Chartered Bank has been operating in Africa for more than 150 years and is present in 16 African countries and active in 36 countries across the continent.
Currently it serves more than one million retail customers, approximately 100,000 small and medium sized enterprises, and has well over 6,000 corporate client relationships in Sub-Saharan Africa, providing them with a comprehensive range of wholesale and consumer banking services.
The bank contributes to Sub-Saharan Africa’s development in a number of ways. Standard Chartered plays a vital role in financing cross-border trade and investment, while bringing much-needed innovation in financial services.