Jacko Maree has witnessed enormous changes in African banking during the course of his career. The continent’s financial industry has matured particularly rapidly since 2000, thanks to high economic growth and deepening trade links with the rest of the world.
Standard Bank, of which Mr Maree was chief executive from 1999 until March 2013, exemplifies this shift. In 2000, the South African lender, Africa’s biggest, had less than $30bn of assets. Today, its balance sheet stands at roughly $165bn.
