Second to none: Standard Bank eyes top spot in East Africa

Standard Bank is aiming to be the largest bank in East Africa by 2030, a region that’s home to 400-million people, with the lender hoping to double its earnings in the fastest growing region on the continent.

The “Big Blue”, as Standard Bank is known in high finance circles due to the size of its balance sheet, is not content with being the third largest bank in the region — a position that belies its status as Africa’s largest bank by assets.

Joshua Oigara, the regional CEO for Standard Bank East Africa — a portfolio that encompasses six key markets in the region: Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Malawi — said the lender was poised for growth.

He said Standard Bank has set a target of doubling its client base in East Africa to 2-million by 2030, and alongside it, doubling its earnings in the key corridor.

In the 2025 financial year, the region accounted for R4.7bn of the group’s record-breaking R49.2bn earnings. “We have an opportunity to build our businesses organically every year. Today we play as a top three bank in the region,” Oigara said.

“If you think about 2030, we should be doubling our earnings. If you think about Kenya, which is growing at 5-6% [GDP], Uganda at 6-7%, and Tanzania at 7-8%, there is a huge opportunity for us to make Standard Bank the largest bank in the region in the next three to four years.”

We find Kenya’s rapid, sustained and increasingly diversified growth extremely impressive. We are equally impressed by Kenya’s close and highly efficient links to the European, Indian and Chinese economies and to the broader global trading system in general

—  Sim Tshabalala, Standard Bank Group CEO

To achieve its ambition, the bank, armed with R3.6-trillion in assets, will have to do heavy lifting in Kenya, where it occupies the number six market position in the metrics of total assets, deposits and profit after tax.

Kenya is East Africa’s largest economy by a mile. The 163-year-old Standard Bank has had a presence in Kenya since 1992 and has grown to 44 branches, servicing 315,000 clients in the country.

Kenya has been perceived as a regional leader in Africa in terms of development, having achieved above-average growth rates to become a lower middle-income economy in 2014 [World Bank classification]. However, the country continues to face important economic challenges, with two thirds of the population living on less than $3.20 per day, with the majority of the workforce still employed in the agriculture sector.

Standard Bank’s domestic rivals have also eyed East Africa for growth, with the region having favourable demographics, with an average age of 20 and high fintech adoption.

Absa recently concluded the purchase of Standard Chartered Uganda’s wealth and retail banking business, a deal set to strengthen Absa’s retail franchise, expand its affluent and high-net-worth customer base, and deepen its wealth management capabilities.

Standard Bank holds a dominant position in Uganda.

Nedbank is in the process of acquiring a majority stake in Kenya-based NCBA for nearly R14bn. NCBA operates across Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, and offers digital banking services in Ghana and Ivory Coast, serving about 60-million clients.

Standard Bank is said to have been in hot pursuit of NCBA too, according to Bloomberg.

Standard Bank Group CEO Sim Tshabalala told a Kenya-South Africa Business Forum on Thursday, and graced by President Cyril Ramaphosa and his Kenyan counterpart William Ruto, that there are opportunities to deepen economic ties between the two countries.

“We find Kenya’s rapid, sustained and increasingly diversified growth extremely impressive. We are equally impressed by Kenya’s close and highly efficient links to the European, Indian and Chinese economies and to the broader global trading system in general,” he said.

“Over the past three decades, we have worked with many Kenyan clients and partners. It is no secret that we intend to keep growing our business and our contribution in your great country, Mr President [Ruto].”

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