Africa’s biggest bank is bulking up to fend off fintech rivals

Standard Bank’s expansion drive will focus on building bigger businesses in French-speaking African countries and East African nations, the CEO said. — Bloomberg

Standard Bank Group Ltd, Africa’s largest lender by assets, is planning to scale-up some of its operations on the continent and further digitise its systems to fend off fintech firms encroaching on its client base.

Companies such as Ant Group’s Alipay unit are seeking to tap emerging markets like Africa and its 1.2 billion people through financial-services offerings. This is complicating the strategies of South African banks that have turned to the rest of the continent for growth, as their home market grapples with a recession, corruption and high joblessness.