In search of growth in priority markets, the British banking group is in discussions to sell its operations in Uganda, Zambia and Botswana. In a communication dated 27 November, Standard Chartered states that it wishes to sell its wealth management and retail banking activities in these three East and Southern African countries

Two years after announcing its decision to leave Cameroon, Angola, Gambia, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe, StanChart is now considering the option of selling its assets in Uganda, Zambia and Botswana. In a statement, Standard Chartered said that these divestitures would be the first in a series, as its objective is to double investments in the wealth management segment, while reducing its retail banking activities. “We are constantly evaluating the effectiveness of our business model and regularly taking adjustment measures to focus our resources on the customer proposition where we have the best competitive advantages,” the bank said in a statement

This transaction is a second wave of withdrawal from the continent for the British bank since in 2023, it reached an agreement to sell its franchises located in Cameroon, Gambia, Gambia, Sierra Leone and Angola to Access Bank. In Tanzania, the Nigerian banking group also inherited Standard's investment banking, private banking and retail banking services, while in Côte d'Ivoire, the retail banking business was sold to the local subsidiary of Coris Bank International. Standard Chartered is thus part of a trend initiated in recent years by Western banks which are choosing to gradually disengage from the continent, a market considered complex and less and less profitable due to the very high compliance costs