The long-standing relationship between Standard Chartered and Zimbabwe is about to come to an end as the firm plans to leave Zimbabwe.
Standard Chartered Group CEO Bill Winters announced that the firm will be exiting several countries in Africa and the Middle East in a bit to simplify its global structure. Which is a fancy way of saying running businesses in these areas is not worth the effort required to make them run successfully.
The group said it will leave Angola, Cameroon, Gambia, Jordan, Lebanon, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. It further announced that it will be closing its retail banking units in Tanzania and Ivory Coast, to focus only on corporate banking. The move is understandable as people are choosing to keep their money rather than bank it due to economic instability.
Bill Winters said;
“We are sharpening our focus on the most significant opportunities for growth while also simplifying our business.
We remain excited by the number of opportunities we see in the AME region, as illustrated by our new markets, but remain disciplined in our assessment of where we can deliver significantly improved shareholder returns.”
Standard Chartered was set up in Zimbabwe in the year 1892 and it is the oldest financial institution in Zimbabwe. This is an opportunity for other firms in the sector to have a bigger market share.