The Trevor Series with CE Sim Shabalala from Standard Bank at Gibs in Bryanston 2 June 2022. Sam Shabalala first spoke and mentioned so many thing. He started of with how society shapes us as bankers and not the other way around. Which is the opposite of what we would think or perceive banking to do in society.

The African economy short term outlook is not very good. There is a very devastating war in Eastern Europe with Ukraine. Shakespeare’s battalions come into thought. The International body of finance says that major economies outlook of growth is expected for 2020 due to the war and after effects of Conovirus, in 2022 USA 2%, China 4% and Europe only 1%. The oil price worldwide is very high because of the conflict in Ukraine. Interest rates are set to hike. Heating and gas is bad for Europe right now. Economists expected a 4% growth for Africa this year but the Ukraine conflict is very damaging especially for Africa as some African countries are very dependent on exports from Ukraine for wheat for example. Commodity prices and exporters will benefit. Commodity and exporters will benefit. Huge food insecurity though in Africa and worldwide.

Africa is expected to grow and to be more digitally connected which is great news. Unfortunately the pandemic of Conovirus has really affected Africa’s economic growth which will mean Africa will or might be poorer for longer. Trends however are going to be positive.

Standard Bank recently fully purchased Liberty in South Africa as a full share holder.

Africa remains the poorest continent and we have a lot of catching up to do compared to other continents. The lower end market is called the main market here. Banks are going to be accelerating inclusion and Africa into supply chains worldwide for exporting. Exclusion creates instability and is bad for economic growth. 85% of funding projects will be going to renewables with 99% into electronic channels such as The Standard Bank App.

Fintech and financial apps are going to be eating Banks lunches. In other words that can affect the market share and market cap and hopefully not profits. Banks need to make sure that non-binary and terrorism funding is not going through our country and Standard Bank is committed to eradicate it.

The New African Free Trade agreement has its benefits however the xenophobia’s and sovereignty issues and problems that neighboring countries are facing such as the mentality that their own country must come first in terms of job openings creates a problem for hiring processes.

CEO Sim Shabalala did an arts degree and started as an associate in a law firm drafting contracts. Another African leader it seems to have first started with Law included Nelson Mandela The first Black President of South Africa in 1994.

Standard Bank has a collaborative way of making decisions jointly and makes uses of partnerships. Deutche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Sasol, And Netflix all do this kind of business for crisis and succession. Standard Bank was very big internationally and was up in the air between continents but recently just sold its shares in The United Kingdom but now is just focusing on Africa alone. Wenow also have to look at how do we position ourselves now with new things happening in South African economy. We can maybe look at things like tourism or 4G connectivity and 5G connectivity.

Leadership …

Leadership can be a messy position. There are natural laws. Things will happen such as countries going through situations and there are natural laws and environmental factors out of our control. What can we do. We often have a workshop from time to time on what our business stands for just to keep the values and standards raised and moral high of our employees.

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