Standard Chartered Bank has been operating in Africa for more than 150 years and is present in 15 African countries and active in 36 countries across the continent. Currently it serves more than one million retail customers, approximately 100,000 small and medium-sized enterprises, and has well over 6,000 corporate client relationships in Sub-Saharan Africa, providing them with a comprehensive range of wholesale and consumer banking services.

The bank contributes to Sub-Saharan Africa’s development in a number of ways. As well as channelling the most efficient use of local savings and investment, Standard Chartered plays a vital role in financing cross-border trade and investment, while bringing much-needed innovation in financial services.

But what is the wider impact of Standard Chartered’s business on Africa’s economies? How has the bank contributed to employment, personal incomes, business profits, and tax generation in the countries where it operates and across the region as a whole? With a number of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa overcoming significant challenges to enjoy strong economic growth in recent years, how can Standard Chartered help the economies in Africa remain on a positive trajectory in the future?

This report draws on quantitative and qualitative assessments to answer these questions, examining the bank’s direct and indirect impact in 13 of its 15 Sub-Saharan Africa markets (excluding South Africa and Mauritius). In particular, the report focuses on four countries – Nigeria, Zambia, Kenya and Ghana (markets representing over half Standard Chartered’s African revenues). It assesses the impact of the bank’s operations in terms of economic value added and employment supported. In particular, it assesses Standard Chartered’s impact on Africa’s trade, deploying its global network spanning 68 markets, and as the only international bank with a major presence across both Africa and Asia