|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
Last week you announced a change in your business structure, please elucidate more on these changes
Last week we announced our intention to explore the sale of our Wealth and Retail Banking (WRB) business (Savings, Current, Safari Junior Accounts, Digital Life, Shilingi, Offshore Mutual Funds, Endowment Plans, Bonds, Fixed Deposits, Salary Loans (Personal And Over-Draft) in Uganda to concentrate our resources on serving the cross-border needs of global corporate and financial institution clients.
This came on the back of an earlier announcement we made during our Group Q3 2024 financial results where we revealed our intention to focus our resources where we can play to our strengths and best serve the cross-border needs of our clients.
Divesting our Wealth and Retail Business does not mean that we are exiting the Ugandan market, but rather it represents an opportunity for growth while allowing us as a Bank to redeploy our resources to areas where we can add maximum value by doubling down on the strengths that align with our purpose of driving commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity.
Why the shift in strategy?
In today’s financial landscape, businesses must continuously adapt to meet the shifting needs of their clients, stakeholders and shareholders.
As a Bank that has been in existence for over 170 years in the world’s most dynamic markets and 112 years in Uganda, Standard Chartered has remained open for business, driving financial inclusion and growth in Uganda and beyond by leading in the digitisation and innovation space.
We did this by transforming as the financial needs of our clientele and the market dynamics evolved, for instance, in the past we divested in markets like Tanzania and Ivory Coast and the outcome for both the business and Bank colleagues has been very positive as it has accelerated the growth of the Corporate and Institutional Banking (CIB) Business in those markets.
What segments will you focus on moving forward?
Standard Chartered Uganda is not exiting the market. We remain operational in Uganda and we will focus on our Corporate and Investment Banking segment which has long been the backbone of our global operations. By focusing on this segment, we will cater to the complex cross-border needs of multinational corporations, development finance institutions, government and large-scale investors.
In Uganda, we remain a trusted partner for companies in various sectors like energy, telecommunications and infrastructure to whom we provide specialised and robust financial services of cash management, correspondent banking, trade finance, financial markets, treasury, lending, structured and export finance products and services to government agencies, corporates and financial institutions clients.
Recently, we funded infrastructure projects worth over USD1 billion and a recent socio-economic impact report by Steward Redqueen revealed that Standard Chartered Uganda has, over the years, supported USD896 million in value-added impact in Uganda (3.5% of GDP) and supported 491,000 jobs directly and indirectly. This demonstrates that our commitment is unquestionable.
As I conclude, allow me to reiterate that we are not exiting the Ugandan market but are exploring the sale of our Wealth and Retail Business. We have not identified any buyers as we are just at the beginning of the process, so I urge our clients and the public to only rely on official communication from the Bank and not from any other sources. The transition will take a phased approach over the next 18 to 24 months to complete the process and we will update you. We therefore remain open for business; our branches and systems continue to work as normal, and it is business as usual until this is complete.
We are also committed to managing this process in partnership with our key stakeholders to minimise disruption for clients and other stakeholders. We will always do this while keeping our stakeholders fully informed as this process goes on.