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InterviewsJuly 1 2013

Standard Chartered pushes further into Africa

Standard Chartered already has one of the largest African businesses among banks from outside the continent, but it still wants to increase its operations there substantially in the next few years. Diana Layfield, its chief executive for Africa, tells Paul Wallace how.
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Standard Chartered pushes further into Africa

Interest in Africa has surged in the past five years. Having long neglected the continent for being too risky and offering poor returns, international investors are today piling in, buying its companies, shares and bonds in their droves.

Although low yields in the developed world are playing their part, the chief reasons for this flocking to Africa are the continent's greater political stability and rapid economic growth. Africa’s gross domestic product is forecast by the African Development Bank to rise by 4.8% this year, well above the global average. The sub-Saharan part of the continent is expanding even more quickly, continuing a trend that has been in place for most of the past decade.

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