Standard Chartered Bank to sell stakes in five markets to Access Bank

Standard Chartered Bank has agreed to sell its shareholding in subsidiaries in Angola, Cameroon, The Gambia, and Sierra Leone, and its Consumer, Private and Business Banking business in Tanzania to Access Bank Plc.

Each transaction remains subject to the approval of the respective local regulators and the banking regulator in Nigeria, according to a statement by Standard Chartered Bank on Friday.

The announcement was made Friday at Standard Chartered’s Headquarters in London in the presence of senior representatives from both banks.

This was signed by, Sunil Kaushal, Regional Chief Executive Officer, Africa and Middle East, Standard Chartered and, Roosevelt Ogbonna, Group Managing Director, Access Bank Plc.

The statement said the agreement with Access for the sale of the bank’s business in Sub-Saharan Africa was in line with Standard Chartered’s global strategy, aimed at achieving operational efficiencies, reducing complexity, and driving scale.

It stated that Access Bank would provide a full range of banking services and continuity for key stakeholders including employees and clients of Standard Chartered’s businesses across the five aforementioned countries.

“Access Bank and Standard Chartered will work closely together in the coming months to ensure a seamless transition, with the transaction expected to be completed over the next 12 months,” the bank said.

Commenting on the agreement, Sunil Kaushal, Regional chief executive officer Africa and Middle East, Standard Chartered, said following on the announcement made in April last year, the project is now substantially completed with the announcement for the sale of the five markets and the furtherance of a partnership with Access Bank.

On the other hand, Roosevelt Ogbonna, Group Managing Director, Access Bank Plc, stated that Access was pleased to sign the agreement.

In April 2022, Standard Chartered strategically decided to divest from a number of markets, namely Lebanon, Angola, Cameroon, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Zimbabwe and Jordan, and to exit the CPBB (Consumer Private and Business Banking) business in Côte d’Ivoire and Tanzania.

The Bank announced its sale of business in Zimbabwe earlier in June and in Jordan in March this year.

With this announcement, Standard Chartered has substantially completed the divestment process from the markets announced in April 2022, except Côte d’Ivoire where it remains actively engaged in discussions with potential buyers for the sale of its CPBB business in the country.

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