STANDARD Bank, a leading emerging markets bank and holding company of Stanbic IBTC Bank has reaffirmed its commitment to Nigeria.Rising from its weeklong group board meeting held in Lagos, its Chairman Mr. Fred Phaswana, stated that Nigeria's potential for growth and development was immense. 'Nigeria's economic vibrancy is impressive, reflected in the economic growth Nigeria continues to record.' Holding its global board meeting alongside its strategy deliberations in Nigeria is a strong reflection of how vital Nigeria is to Standard Bank Group, Phaswana affirmed.Standard Bank Group, said that Mr. Jacko Maree, thechief executive officer is very proud of its Nigerian subsidiary, Stanbic IBTC Bank and very happy with its performance.' The group, he said, would like to grow even bigger in Nigeria and remains very committed to enabling Nigeria and Nigerians to capitalise on the enormous opportunities that abound in the country.Standard Bank, said Maree, inherited a very strong team when they acquired the majority shareholding of the local bank. That team has performed very well and earned utmost confidence of the group.Interestingly, said Maree, Standard Bank Group has recently refined its business strategy to be more focused on Africa. 'Going forward, we will aggressively seek and strive to have our markets benefit from opportunities domestically as well as opportunities in the BRIC economies: Brazil, Russia, India and China.' Standard Bank will also vigorously strive to connect African markets to opportunities in key economies and fast-growth markets across the world.In addition to its renewed focus on Africa, said Maree, StandardBank's partnership with Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, ICBC, the world's largest bank by market capitalisation, represented evidence of its commitment to connecting Nigeria and other emerging markets with fast-growth markets across the world.ICBC's Senior Executive Vice President and Joint Deputy Chairman of Standard Bank Group, Mr. Hongli Zhang affirmed that ICBC would remain very supportive of Stanbic IBTC and Standard Bank's efforts in Nigeria.'This is a very vibrant economy, replete with opportunities and we look forward to being of even more support to Stanbic IBTC Bank and Standard Bank in Nigeria.'Stanbic IBTC Bank has in the last few years, embarked on a very aggressive retail expansion programme, said Mrs. Sola David-Borha, chief executive officer. It currently has 163 branches in Nigeria and has a representation in every state of Nigeria including Abuja. The bank intends to be a leading player in the banking and financial services industry and will continue its retail expansion drive alongside ongoing growth in its corporate and investment banking as well as wealth divisions.
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