End of the titans’ era in banking
Mbongeni Mguni | Tuesday January 20, 2026 11:41
Standard Chartered, the country’s oldest bank, expects to exit the country in the next 12 to 15 months. As Mmegi reported earlier this week, while the bank initially sought bidders for its Wealth and Retail Business unit, suitors said they preferred the entire business.
“Through market engagements, bidders have made it clear that they see significant value in the combined scale of the full SC Botswana franchise – including in the potential for efficient funding, operational leverage, and client coverage,” the bank said in a statement.
The latest developments close the chapter on an era that defined not just the rudimentary attempts at banking in pre-Independence Botswana, but also anchored the growth of the sector with its associated regulations, guided the introduction of the Pula and monetary policy and also ushered in the modern, vibrant and sophisticated financial sector that today supports the broader economy.
Standard Chartered and Barclays Bank are synonymous with banking in the country, having formally established local entities in 1958 and 1950 respectively. Standard Chartered, commonly known as Stanchart, first set up in Botswana in 1897, expanding into the country from the gold and diamond fields of late 19th century South Africa.
The bank operated from Mafeking and provided basic services in Lobatse on a weekly basis. Permanent branches were established in 1958 in Lobatse and Francistown as well as Mahalapye in 1963 and Gaborone in 1964.
Even today, for many older members of society, banking means either Standard Chartered or Barclays, the latter of which exited the country in 2020, purchased by South African giant, Absa.
Quill Hermans, the late founding governor of the Bank of Botswana and public finance luminary, previously recalled the role Standard Chartered Bank played in those early years.
“In those days, all government accounts were handled by Standard Chartered Bank. It was government’s bank. The Bank had a very fine reputation. “I was in the Ministry of Finance when it was decided to establish a central bank and the late President, Sir Seretse Khama, asked me to lead that development. “That was my first involvement with the banks, other than as a customer.”
Initially run as branches of their South African operations, Stanchart and Barclays established offices in the country in the 1970s and became central to the development of the Bank of Botswana, handholding technocrats in institution and policy-building.
They were also key in the growth of the financial services industry, in terms of the extension of services, products and expertise to support an increasingly sophisticated economy in the wake of the diamond boom.
According to archives from the then Ministry of Finance and Development Planning, mineral revenues rose from P1 million in 1972 to P76.6 million by 1980 and just over P2 billion by 1990. Over that same period, the contribution of mineral revenues to government revenues rose from five percent to 31 percent to 54 percent.
Standard Chartered Bank handed over control of government accounts to the newly established Bank of Botswana on April 1, 1977, a symbol of decades of partnership in economic development.
Both banks were also key to the 1976 introduction of the Pula, supporting the central bank and government to break away from the Rand Monetary Area and partnering in the early development of monetary policy and fiscal rules.
However, Stanchart and Barclays’ most enduring impact lies in their partnering with government for the spread of financial literacy and banking access over the decades from Independence, bringing a largely rural population closer to mainstream services and opportunities that today’s generation are the beneficiaries of.
Powered by the diamond boom of the 1970s, nationwide employment figures rose from 37,500 in 1972, to 97,400 by 1980 and 229,000 in 1990. Today, the country has one of the highest banking access rates on the continent and a growing fintech sector.
While the older generation wistfully ponder the departure of an institutional household brand, Stanchart’s departure whips up the same excitement and dynamism that has characterised banking in Botswana over the years.
According to previous research by Econsult, Stanchart and Barclays’ duopoly was officially broken, somewhat, in 1982 through the licensing of Bank of Credit and Commerce Botswana (BCCB) which “remained relatively small, and did not fundamentally challenge the dominance of the two major existing banks”.
The 1990s were a more frenetic period in the banking industry and marked the more official breakdown of the duopoly, with Zimbank Botswana establishing in 1990, followed shortly thereafter by First National Bank Botswana. More activity followed with FNBB taking over both Zimbank Botswana and BCCB. The loosened licencing regime later allowed other entrants such as Stanbic, ANZ-Grindlays, Bank of Baroda, Bank Gaborone, First Capital Bank Botswana, Access Bank and others over the years.
BBS Bank, the country’s first indigenous bank, secured its banking licence in 2022 and was last year amongst the top performers on the Botswana Stock Exchange (BSE) in terms of share price.
The “comfortable duopoly” ended and brought with it higher competition and in some cases a literal “dog eat dog” situation as some entities were liquidated into the hands of others.
With Stanchart’s announcement that it too is exiting the market in the next 12 to 15, another era of dynamism awaits the banking sector, reminiscent of the end of the duopoly.
BBS Bank is seen as being amongst the frontrunners to take over Standard Chartered PLC’s stake in Stanchart, with reports that the young bank is seeking funding from the Botswana Public Officers Pension Fund to underwrite its bid.
According to its last annual report, Standard Chartered PLC held 74.2 percent equity in Standard Chartered Bank Botswana, a stake that at current BSE prices would be valued at P1.94 billion.
For BBS Bank, snapping up Stanchart would be a masterstroke, catapulting the young bank into the ranks of the country’s Big Four in banking.
The Big Four, comprising First National Bank Botswana, Absa Bank Botswana, SCBB, and Stanbic Bank, have a considerable hold on the local market. As at December 2024, the Big Four accounted for 74.1%, 73.9% and 71.3% of total assets, deposits, and loans and advances, respectively, with the figures largely remaining the same over prior years.
Technically, the other suitors in the local market for Stanchart could be any of the smaller banks, for whom sealing a deal would not risk violating market dominance regulations from the Competition and Consumer Authority. Under law, the Authority may consider an enterprise or enterprises to be in a dominant position if one supplies or acquires at least 25 percent of the goods or services in the market or three or fewer enterprises supply or acquire 50% of the goods and services.
There are nuances to the law however.
“The test for dominance is the ability to profitably adjust prices or output, acting to some degree independently of competitive constraints. “It is not simply an exercise of assessing market shares,” the Authority says.
In addition to the smaller banks, external parties are known to be sniffing around the continent for deals and could swoop onto Stanchart. In Zambia, First Rand is taking over Standard Chartered’s Wealth and Retail Business, while the same unit in Uganda will be taken over by the Absa group.
Both Absa and First Rand are operational in Botswana and occupy the first and second rungs of the Big Four.
Ultimately, the Competition and Consumer Authority will have the final word on who takes over Stanchart.
As has happened before in banking, the end of an era has brought dynamism with it.