Botswana

Standard Chartered Botswana recorded an impressive turnaround in profits last year, reversing a 12% slide in net income in 2003 to deliver a 31% rise in profits in 2004, amounting to 174.9m Botswana Pula ($32.3m). In doing so, it restored the shine to a very impressive ROE – 88.8% in 2004 compared with 75% the previous year.

Rigorous cost control saw the bank’s cost to income ratio slashed from 55.4% to 46.8%, but rather than its ability to run a lean operation, the judges noted the bank’s broad-ranging innovations, including a new product tailored specifically for the small and medium-sized enterprise market; making available South African rands (the dominant regional currency) at cash machines; and the launch of Excel Banking for high net worth individuals. It was also the first bank ever to offer a currency swap in Botswana.

“At Standard Chartered Botswana we see huge opportunities to gain competitive advantage through providing better customer service and with staff commitment and training. This is clearly beginning to show through,” says managing director Nigel Jones. “We continue to lead the way in a host of initiatives in both wholesale and consumer banking as well as our community initiatives, which are sorely needed in a country that has among the world’s highest HIV/AIDS incidence rates, with a consequent effect on reducing GDP growth.”