Stanbic IBTC has a strong commitment to financing large-scale real estate projects and providing innovative solutions across diverse sectors. Over the review period, the bank structured three medium-term loans totalling US$155 million, showcasing its dedication to supporting substantial real estate developments. In addition, it facilitated a US$1 million development loan, demonstrating its commitment to a broad range of real estate needs, from large projects to smaller, sector-specific developments.

Stanbic Kenya Bank Limited has innovative financial solutions and commitment to supporting the country's real estate sector. One of Stanbic’s offerings is its structured term and development facilities, designed to provide real estate developers with the flexibility needed for rapid project execution. These facilities enable more efficient expansion and completion of real estate developments. In addition, Stanbic’s dual currency facility structures help clients manage currency volatility and rental risks, offering financial stability in a fluctuating economic environment.

Standard Bank offers different options of financing solutions, broad sector coverage and strong commitment to sustainability. Its real estate finance (REF SA) loan book grew by 10% to $5 billion in December 2023, from $4.6 billion in December 2022. The bank completed $1.9 billion in transactional activities over the year, with 57% allocated to refinancing and 43% to new business, showcasing its balance between nurturing existing relationships and pursuing growth opportunities.

Standard Bank’s exceptional performance in financing, client engagement, and innovative solutions across the continent’s real estate sector earns it the award for Africa’s best bank for real estate. The bank also showcased strong growth in new facilities and in refinances which enables them to maintain the market leader role in the region.

Standard Bank CIB played a pivotal role in several high-impact sustainable transactions across Africa in 2023, highlighting its commitment to innovation in green finance, infrastructure development and economic growth.

Standard Bank successfully implemented innovative digital products across all banking segments in 2023 while also making important philanthropic contributions in Malawi.

A strong financial performance together with a series of new initiatives, including in environmental, social and governance, make Standard Bank Euromoney’s best bank in South Africa this year.

In a year (very) short on equity capital markets activity, it was in the debt and the loan market that Standard Bank shone brightest in 2023.

Millennium bim, Euromoney’s best bank in Mozambique this year, has focused its efforts on technological improvements during the period under review.

Led by its head of wealth and investment Jacques Els, Standard Bank Wealth & Investment is a private-banking powerhouse in Africa.

Getting M&A right in Africa is not easy – big-ticket transactions are rare, and deal flow tends to come in fits and starts – but Standard Bank has got it down to a fine art.

For the second year in a row, Standard Bank walks away with the award for the best bank in Africa. And for good reason.

Standard Bank Shari'ah Banking has focused on product innovation during the awards period and has seen impressive growth across its African operations.

Standard Bank Shari'ah Banking has been named the best Islamic bank in South Africa following a busy period in the capital markets, the launch of several market-first solutions and impactful community support work.

Two key elements of Standard Bank Wealth and Investment’s offering stood out in this category. The first of these, My360, allows clients to visualise and control their financial assets. It offers them an aggregated view of their portfolio across asset classes, providing clients with a view of their net asset value in multiple currencies, and allowing them to delve deeper into different categories from a single dashboard.

Next-gen clients can be just as diverse as any other private-banking clients, with similar ranges of age, investment goals and overall desire to be involved in the family wealth.

In an African context in which private family wealth is growing rapidly, Standard Bank Wealth and Investment regards itself as one of the few large regional institutions with a comprehensive family-office service. It sees itself as a pioneer in this area, and wants to maintain a preeminent position in the category as the importance of African family offices continues to grow.

This year’s winner for best bank for high net-worth (HNW) individuals in Africa, Standard Bank Wealth and Investment, is rewarded for delivering clever tailored solutions to its growing clientele across key African markets.

As Africa’s largest bank by assets, Standard Bank Wealth and Investment is well-placed to take advantage of the growth of the continent as a private-banking market. The firm is led by Jacques Els.

Standard Bank Group (SBG), Africa’s largest bank, completed real estate transactions in many countries during the review period. It extended 20 new facilities totalling $249.05 million to both existing and new clients, and 13 refinancings totalling $408.8 million to existing clients.

In many African countries, Standard Bank is not as large as it would like to be. But it has a physical presence in 20 African countries and is already by far the biggest pan-African group in terms of its scale in the main sub-Saharan markets, the size of its balance sheet and its absolute profit.

Standard Bank Wealth & Investment stands head and shoulders above the wealth management competition in Africa. The South African bank is a regional powerhouse in the sector, with private banking offices in 14 African markets, including Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana, as well as the whole of southern Africa.

Size, scale, depth of client penetration – together with offering the full range of wealth management advice, products and services across multiple core markets – are key elements in recognising the leading private bank in any region.

No other private bank in Africa can compete with Standard Bank, the region’s largest by assets and earnings. The Johannesburg-based lender has a dedicated on-the-ground wealth management presence in 15 countries, including Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya, employing 449 industry professionals.

Standard Bank is once again a worthy winner of the award for Africa’s best bank for wealth management. It offers wealth management services in southern, eastern and parts of western Africa – 15 countries in all, including South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya.

A strong hold on the foreign currency and fixed income markets in countries such as Nigeria and Kenya proved a vital asset for Standard Bank over the last 12 months, as South Africa suffered particularly damaging Covid-19 lockdowns. Largely because of this regional investment banking structure, coupled with provisioning for credit losses in South Africa, the group made almost twice as much money in the rest of Africa as it did in South Africa in 2020 – highlighting how much Standard Bank is now a pan-African play for investors.

It’s hard to find a more comprehensive and cutting-edge offering in wealth management across Africa than that of Standard Bank, which is why the bank wins the award for best bank for wealth management in Africa once again.

Standard Bank’s investment in switching its trade processes from manual to digital has paid off this year, with faster processes stemming from better technology. It is the best bank for transaction services in Africa as a result. Its head of transactional products and services is Hasan Khan.

At a time of global economic retrenchment, dollar volatility, slowing trade flows and border closures, Africa needs deeper localization of markets and financing. Standard Bank’s expertise in these fields makes it the clear choice for best investment bank in Africa this year.

Standard Bank is the first bank in Africa to implement core banking systems SAP and Finacle, amid ever-increasing pressures to consolidate client data.