Stanbic Bank has joined its parent company, Standard Group to mark 160 years of its existence. Established in 1862 in the small town, of Port Elizabeth, Standard Bank Group is the largest commercial bank in Africa, operating in over 20 countries around the continent. In Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Sudan, it operates under the brand name Stanbic Bank.
Speaking at Serena hotel, Anne Juuko, the Chief “Today is a special day for us in the history of our mother company, Standard Bank Group but also in Uganda as Stanbic bank in Uganda. The Group employs over 50,000 staff members directly and indirectly and serves over 15 million customers,”
She said the group has flown the same flag and the motto; ‘let the standard go forward’ and still honors the principles on which it was founded. Today we are extremely honored to hold a dual celebration because we were not only celebrating 160 years of existence but also 60 years since Uganda got its independence.
The bank reaffirmed its commitment to the communities which it serves. This month, the bank is marking Customer service month through Cooperate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. The bank has injected over Shs 2billion into the maternal sector, education, agricultural sector and sundry and pledged to give more to the communities which have supported them over the last 60 and 160 years.
“Our commitment to integrity, serving customers, honoring our customers’ wishes, and fair and trading practices will not change. As Tumubweine Twinemanzi, the Executive Director of the Bank Supervision Directorate of the Bank of Uganda (BoU) said, we are the most transparent financial institution. When CBR goes up, we go up, when it goes down, we follow suit. The level of transparency is what our customers can continue to hope for,” she said.
“We have walked this journey with customers who had businesses right from single rooms in basements and two staff members and today they are running multibillion-dollar companies employing thousands of Ugandans and paying billions in taxes. That is the journey we continue to honor,” she said
She said as part of their celebrations, they have partnered with Uganda coffee farmers. “When you think of a coffee farmer, you don’t imagine that a fresh 25-year-old girl will come out to say, I am a coffee farmer but we have found them and we are working and supporting them because we know that the future belongs to them and it is our job to support them,” Anne said
Twinemanzi congratulated Standard Bank Group on 160 years milestone. He said every month; BoU holds meetings with the Chief Executive Officers of Commercial (CEO) banks they confer awards to the Best Primary dealers in Government Securities.
He said since BoU embarked on recognizing commercial banks, Stanbic has a record of having won six consecutive awards.
“Stanbic bank was the first bank to apply and get an electronic wallet. We take into consideration of its Stanbic Purchase Managers Index (PMI) when passing monetary policy. You have heard about the sector being abused for high-interest rates but when the CBR rate goes up, they do and when it goes down, they follow suit. For other banks, the interest rate remains up.” he said
“The 160 years is a great milestone but don’t get too comfortable because what got here won’t get you there. The things you have done to where you are today are not the same that will keep you there or take you where you want to be,” he said
He urged the company to continue innovating, avoid arrogance, bureaucracy and complacency to the company to remain on track for more successive years.
Prof. Patrick Mangheni, the Board Chairman, of Stanbic Bank Uganda said, “As a senior corporate citizen of Africa, our challenge and responsibility as Standard Bank Group is to nurture the young businesses to grow into solid, thriving enterprises that will create jobs, pay taxes and drive Uganda or Africa’s growth. This should be our mission for the next 160 years to nurture the next generation of Africa’s businesses. I am happy to note that we have already started on this work in one way or another,”
He said Stanbic Bank on its own has a rich heritage dating back 116 years, right from 1906, when it used to be the National Bank of India. After several name changes, it rebranded to Grindlays Bank. It is in 1991 after the Standard Bank Group acquired Grindlays Bank and it was given a new name Stanbic Bank (Uganda) Limited.
“In February 2002, Standard bank group acquired 90% of the shareholding in Uganda Commercial Bank Limited, which was a government-owned bank. UCB was then merged with Stanbic Bank (Uganda) Limited and that is how it became Uganda’s largest commercial bank by assets and branch network,” he said
In April 2019, Stanbic Bank Uganda reorganized its corporate structure and created a Holding Company called Stanbic Uganda Holdings Limited and Stanbic Bank became its Subsidiary. Since then, Stanbic Uganda Holdings has grown and today has four more subsidiaries which include; Stanbic Properties, Stanbic Business Incubator, SBG Securities and FlyHub.
