StanChart Seeks Sale of Wealth & Retail Banking Units in Zambia, Uganda and Botswana

Standard Chartered PLC has announced its plan to explore the sale of its wealth and retail banking businesses in Botswana, Uganda, and Zambia.

In these territories, the bank still plans to service “the cross-border needs of global corporate and financial institution clients”.

The bank said the move comes as it is ‘refreshing strategic priorities’ as communicated previously in its third-quarter results, with the focus now on “accelerating income growth and returns.”

Standard Chartered said the exits would not be material to the group as a whole.

“We continually assess the efficacy of our global business model and regularly take action to concentrate resources where we have the most distinctive client proposition,” chief executive Bill Winters said in a statement.

“We have invested heavily in recent years in Africa, where we have operated for 170 years, and which remains core to our global network.

“We have more-than doubled Wealth assets under management in sub-Saharan Africa since 2021 – driven by our hubs in Kenya and Nigeria – and we are confident that the greater concentration resulting from the proposed sales will help us to continue to outperform the market.”