Stanbic Bank Botswana this week launched its 20th anniversary celebrations, having officially reached their platinum jubilee in March. The institution was opened in 1992 under the leadership of Dave Brown.
The bank said it will take up different activities across the country throughout the year in celebration of this milestone.
“Stanbic is very proud of its association with Botswana. It has been a very exciting 20 years for the bank in this market and we are satisfied with our growth in this period,” Stanbic Bank Managing Director, Leina Gabaraane, said.
The bank has gone from one branch when it opened in 1992 to 10 branches and three more to be added this year. The bank, which only entered the retail space in the last 10 years, has 19 ATMs around the country with 10 more planned for this year.
Gabaraane told a press conference to mark the start of the celebrations that the bank is committed to being the financial ‘partner of choice in Botswana’.
“Our work has and will continue to contribute towards the growth of our economy as well as creating platforms for opportunity and growth for Batswana,” he said.
Stanbic Bank Botswana, a member of Standard Bank Group, started trading in Botswana as Union Bank in 1992 with its first branch and head office located at Broadhurst Industrial.
In the same year, Union Bank took over AZN Grindlays and Gaborone West branch was opened as the second branch offering general banking services, vehicle and asset finance and forex.
According to data from the bank, Union Bank was renamed Stanbic Bank leading to the opening of the Industrial Branch as its third branch. Then in 1994, the bank expanded to Francistown where a branch was opened and that is when the bank started offering retail products.
One of the bank’s major acquisitions was in 2003 when it acquired Investec Private Banking book.
As of February 2012, Stanbic Bank had a total of 540 staff members from an initial staff compliment of 20. Most of the positions are localized, including that of the Managing Director.
Of the 20 people that started with the bank, 7 of them still work for Stanbic. Amongst the top 5 commercial banks in Botswana, Stanbic is still unlisted, but Gabaraane is bullish the bank will one day be a publicly listed company.
“The plans are there,” he said when asked if there are plans to float shares on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE).
“The intentions have always been there, but there are lot of things to be done (before listing),” he added.
The bank is one of the largest although its market share could not be measured. “I do not know (our) market share, but we know we are growing”.
