Best Trade Bank in Africa: Standard Bank

Runner-up: Deutsche & ABSA
Commended: Standard Chartered
2007 Winner: Calyon

Standard Bank is arguably South Africa’s best known banking group, but it operates in a highly competitive market, with major trade banks increasingly looking to Africa, and its Award is thoroughly merited.

In recent years, Standard Bank has expanded further into Nigeria – a highly profitable destination in recent years – and Kenya. “This has meant more capital being deployed in these countries and an ability to consider and process larger transactions,” says Craig Polkinghorne, Global Head and Director, Structured Trade and Commodity Finance, in Corporate and Investment Banking at Standard Bank.

While active on every continent, Standard Bank’s ‘unique selling point’ is arguably its long expertise in Africa and its footprint on the continent. “The Bank has also been engaged in continual development of its African banking businesses. This focus has been across Corporate and Investment Bank’s product suites – Global Markets, Investment Banking and Transactional Products, and Services, as well as heightened focus on the client base through coverage teams.

The Bank is organised on a regional basis retaining a particular expertise in certain commodities (such as metals and mining, energy, soft commodities and capital goods) within the regional groupings. “This has resulted in more focused teams better equipped to deal with the unique needs of our African clients,” he says. It has also benefited from the credit crunch, he adds, “as companies revert to those institutions they know and trust”.

In addition to the strategic expansion in Nigeria and Kenya, Standard Bank has also – like many banks across the world in trade finance – recruited new staff to deepen expertise and to cover new areas across Africa. “These are people experienced in trade from a banking perspective and have experience outside of trade and across a variety of commodities,” says Polkinghorne.