Staff Reporter
MASERU — Standard Bank has been named the best bank in Lesotho by The Banker, a leading journal of the global banking and finance industry.
In a statement released to the media, Standard Bank said it had been named the best bank in four other African markets — Malawi, Uganda, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
The Bank of the Year awards recognise banks that succeed in gaining strategic advantage and delivering shareholder returns in spite of volatile market conditions.
The Banker said it recognised Standard Bank’s ability to adapt to changing conditions, secure important deals and succeed in an increasingly competitive environment.
“We attribute our success in the past year to our ability to leverage our client base by pursuing the sale of some of our more traditional products, and driving up our cross sales and so generating additional revenue,” Roger Snelgar, managing director of Standard Lesotho Bank, said.
“In addition, a very close monitoring of our revenues to avoid leakages and control of our costs enabled us to deliver a successful year.”
Snelgar said prospects for the future were looking bright.
“For the coming years as the global economy has begun to turn, we are seeing improving demand for some of our exports such as textiles and diamonds,” he said.
“In conjunction with this, government is considering some infrastructural spending especially around water and electricity.
“While we will continue to enhance and pursue our branch-based banking activities, the larger opportunities will lie in the corporate sector as mines and factories embark on some capital expenditure and government begins to roll out the infrastructural programmes.”
Standard Bank Group has now won more than 20 awards from a variety of industry bodies this year.
The bank said the awards recognised the group’s efforts to develop a solid banking business in key African regions.
Ben Kruger, deputy chief executive, Standard Bank Group, said: “Standard Bank has a deep and long-standing commitment to developing business in Africa. We are delighted with this recognition of our ability to connect Africa and the world.
“Africa will remain our calling card and Standard Bank is ideally placed to capitalise on developments in the region.
“We are particularly well-placed to connect trade and investment opportunities in Africa to not only developed markets, but also with the emerging BRIC economies that are helping to propel growth in world trade.”