Our purpose is to drive Africa’s growth. We are committed to being more than a provider of financial products and services – we are a catalyst for economic change in our countries of operation and we make life better for our fellow Africans by doing the right business the right way.
On this page you will find an overview of Standard Bank and why we believe in ‘reporting to society’.
SEE moreAn account of our social, economic and environmental impacts and how these contribute to our sustainability and ability to achieve our purpose. It includes our environmental, social and governance report, and Standard Bank South Africa’s transformation report.
We are a financial services organisation in, for and across Africa.
We operate in 20 African countries and are headquartered in Johannesburg. Our primary listing is on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in South Africa, with a secondary listing in Namibia. Subsidiary banks are listed on exchanges in Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda.
On this page:An account of our social, economic and environmental impacts and how these contribute to our sustainability and ability to achieve our purpose. It includes our environmental, social and governance report, and Standard Bank South Africa’s transformation report.
We publish several reports to provide our stakeholders with the information they need to assess our performance.
Our annual integrated report, our primary report, provides a holistic and material assessment of our ability to create value over time. It considers the issues material to maintaining the commercial viability and social relevance required to achieve our strategy in the medium to long term, and covers both our financial performance and material non-financial information.
Our reporting to society platform aims to communicate with a broad group of stakeholders about how we impact on the societies, economies and environments in which we operate.
SEE moreAn account of our social, economic and environmental impacts and how these contribute to our sustainability and ability to achieve our purpose. It includes our environmental, social and governance report, and Standard Bank South Africa’s transformation report.
Standard Bank is driven by our purpose: ‘Africa is our home, we drive her growth.’ We are an African financial services organisation with a clear understanding of the challenges and opportunities in our countries of operation. We see it as our core job to develop commercially sound ways to address these challenges, thereby accelerating economic growth and human development and making a better life for our fellow Africans.
SEE moreAn account of our social, economic and environmental impacts and how these contribute to our sustainability and ability to achieve our purpose. It includes our environmental, social and governance report, and Standard Bank South Africa’s transformation report.
We recognise that we cannot achieve our purpose ‘Africa is our home, we drive her growth’ without our stakeholders. That’s why we engage with our stakeholders on a regular basis, to understand their concerns, build relationships, and develop partnerships.
On this page:An account of our social, economic and environmental impacts and how these contribute to our sustainability and ability to achieve our purpose. It includes our environmental, social and governance report, and Standard Bank South Africa’s transformation report.
We have a series of internal policies, procedures and controls
in place to ensure that accurate data is provided. Our group
social and ethics committee provided oversight of this report.
PricewaterhouseCoopers provided limited external assurance on
selected performance data in this report, indicated by
a , in accordance with the International Standard on Assurance
Engagements (ISAE 3000). The scope of the assurance
engagement and the statement of assurance are provided in
this section.
An account of our social, economic and environmental impacts and how these contribute to our sustainability and ability to achieve our purpose. It includes our environmental, social and governance report, and Standard Bank South Africa’s transformation report.
In 2017, we began our journey on impact reporting, identifying the areas of impact that our core business has on the societies in which we operate. Here you will find an overview of the progress made in 2018 in further refining our SEE impact areas.
SEE moreAn account of our social, economic and environmental impacts and how these contribute to our sustainability and ability to achieve our purpose. It includes our environmental, social and governance report, and Standard Bank South Africa’s transformation report.
Our report is structured according to six areas in which we believed that Standard Bank could make a significant positive social, economic and environmental (SEE) impact.
On this page:An account of our social, economic and environmental impacts and how these contribute to our sustainability and ability to achieve our purpose. It includes our environmental, social and governance report, and Standard Bank South Africa’s transformation report.
Accessible and convenient digital channels are essential to broaden and deepen financial inclusion across the continent. We’re keenly aware of our responsibility to ensure that our customers have a clear understanding of our products and services, and how to use them cost-effectively. We’re committed to partnering with our customers during difficult times, and endeavour to work with our customers to develop workable solutions when they find themselves struggling to repay their debt.
Summary Enabling home ownership to improve financial inclusion Digital solutions to improve access and affordability Cutting waiting times in branches to serve our customers better Helping customers make informed financial decisions through consumer education Helping our customers save, invest and plan for the future Our diverse transactional channels provide multiple ways to bank Protecting people’s wealth Generating revenues that drive economic growthAn account of our social, economic and environmental impacts and how these contribute to our sustainability and ability to achieve our purpose. It includes our environmental, social and governance report, and Standard Bank South Africa’s transformation report.
Micro, small and medium enterprises are key drivers of economic growth and job creation across Africa. But many struggle to move from start-up businesses to sustainable firms with the potential to expand and employ others.
Summary Incubators and training Developing economic opportunities with fintech entrepreneurs in Africa Finance for entrepreneurs to grow their businesses Improving financial access with digital solutions for SMEs Helping businesses to thriveAn account of our social, economic and environmental impacts and how these contribute to our sustainability and ability to achieve our purpose. It includes our environmental, social and governance report, and Standard Bank South Africa’s transformation report.
Standard Bank works with governments, development finance institutions and other commercial banks to structure and provide appropriate financial solutions to address Africa’s infrastructure gaps, with appropriate risk sharing arrangements.
Inadequate power, water, transport and telecommunications infrastructure inhibits Africa’s economic growth and potential for job creation and human development. The African Development Bank has estimated that Africa needs USD170 billion per year in infrastructure investment.
Summary Investing in renewable energy Financing transport infrastructure to boost trade Expanding telecommunications infrastructure Funding water infrastructure, an increasingly scarce resourceAn account of our social, economic and environmental impacts and how these contribute to our sustainability and ability to achieve our purpose. It includes our environmental, social and governance report, and Standard Bank South Africa’s transformation report.
Africa’s growth depends on her people having access to quality education, and the promotion of skills training and lifelong learning opportunities in the context of the fourth industrial revolution.
Standard Bank supports this in various ways. We work with partners in the education and corporate sectors to address the challenge of affordable and accessible student finance, including through innovative models such as our Feenix crowd-funding platform in South Africa.
Summary Funding higher education for Africa’s youth Helping young people to enter the workplace Supporting quality schooling Supporting early childhood developmentAn account of our social, economic and environmental impacts and how these contribute to our sustainability and ability to achieve our purpose. It includes our environmental, social and governance report, and Standard Bank South Africa’s transformation report.
Our purpose is to drive Africa’s growth. A core part of our business is to facilitate trade and investment flows between African countries, and between African countries and global markets.
We partner with international investors to connect them to opportunities in Africa, and with African governments, SOEs and businesses to facilitate their access to global capital markets. We helped raise over USD15 billion of finance for our African clients in 2018. We’re also working with African firms, and small enterprises in particular, to improve their access to trade finance.
Summary Expanding African trade to drive Africa’s growth Celebrating our 10-year partnership with ICBC: Growing Africa-China trade and investmentAn account of our social, economic and environmental impacts and how these contribute to our sustainability and ability to achieve our purpose. It includes our environmental, social and governance report, and Standard Bank South Africa’s transformation report.
Standard Bank is a major employer in Africa, employing over 52 147 people. We encourage continuous learning and development to ensure our people are equipped to meet the demands of a rapidly changing, increasingly digital world of work. We invest in training and development at all levels, enabling us to build a strong succession pipeline of future leaders.
Summary Building and retaining local skills and capabilities in our countries of operations Investing in our people Preparing graduates for employment Preparing our people for the future world of workAn account of our social, economic and environmental impacts and how these contribute to our sustainability and ability to achieve our purpose. It includes our environmental, social and governance report, and Standard Bank South Africa’s transformation report.
Standard Bank recognises that our core business activities must contribute to the prosperity and wellbeing of the societies and environment in which we operate. This understanding defines our purpose: Africa is our home. We drive her growth, and is supported by sound environmental, social and governance (ESG) policies and outcomes.
This report provides an overview of our ESG practices and performance for 2018.
SEE moreThis report provides an overview of our environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices and performance for 2018.
Standard Bank is committed to doing the right business the right way, ensuring that our clients are treated fairly and consistently, that we adhere to global and national regulatory and governance standards, and that our decisions and actions are informed by the group’s values and ethics. As per South Africa’s King IV Code of Corporate Governance, we recognise that we are an integral part of the societies in which we operate, dependent on these societies for our licence to operate, and that we are therefore obligated, morally and legally, to act in accordance with what is good for these societies as well as what is good for the bank.
About this report Engaging our stakeholders and determining our material issues Material issues during the reporting period Our value drivers and our material issues What is our ‘SEE impact’ all about?This report provides an overview of our environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices and performance for 2018.
The greatest impact we have as a financial institution is through our financial activities. We have developed a comprehensive framework which will ensure that the group proactively identifies, manages, monitors and embeds environmental and social (E&S) risk management into its lending processes. Standard Bank aims to drive Africa’s growth with minimal negative reputational, social, economic and environmental impact.
Managing E&S risks and opportunities Managing and mitigating indirect environmental and social risk Environmental and social management system Codes, standards and guidelines Climate change risk management Responsible finance Financial instruments to promote positive social and environmental impacts Human rightsThis report provides an overview of our environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices and performance for 2018.
Climate change, coupled with the related issue of water scarcity, has emerged as a leading risk for business and society. SBG is working toward better understanding our environmental impacts and the impacts of climate change on our business. In 2018 we continued to invest in the reduction of our direct carbon footprint through energy and water monitoring and savings measures at our head offices and branches.
Our direct environmental performance Operational carbon footprint managementThis report provides an overview of our environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices and performance for 2018.
We understand that to become the leading financial services organisation in, for and across Africa, we must contribute to the long-term prosperity of the communities and countries in which we operate, by facilitating inclusive economic growth and social development.
To do this effectively we must ensure our relevance to social needs and our capacity to help advance national objectives. Our vision commits us to contributing to socioeconomic development in a way that is consistent with the nature and size of our operations in the countries we serve.
Valuing our people Diversity and inclusion Growing our peopleThis report provides an overview of our environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices and performance for 2018.
Africa’s growth depends on her people having access to quality education, and the promotion of skills training and lifelong learning opportunities in the context of the fourth industrial revolution.
Investing in communities Supporting early childhood development Supporting quality schoolingThis report provides an overview of our environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices and performance for 2018.
The group social and ethics committee is responsible for ensuring that we act ethically in relation to internal and external stakeholders, and society more broadly.
The committee meets quarterly and includes executive and non-executive directors. Key issues discussed by the committee during 2018 included progress on embedding an ethical culture in Standard Bank; group-wide principles for stakeholder engagement; measures to accelerate gender and racial transformation within South Africa, and gender equity across the group; effectiveness of group policies and processes to minimise instances and support the victims of discrimination and sexual harassment; issues raised by environmental and social rights groups; and employee wellbeing.
Promoting sound governance and integrity Governance structures and accountability Our ethics and values Conduct risk management framework Oversight and assurance Political party fundingThis report provides an overview of our environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices and performance for 2018.
We understand that responsible management of environment, health, safety and social responsibility issues is important to our growth, profitability and long-term success. This section provides a selection of our ESG performance data from 2016 – 2018.
On this page:
This report provides an overview of our environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices and performance for 2018.
Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment Generic Verification Certificate
Download PDFThis section of our reporting suite looks at how The Standard Bank of South Africa (SBSA) is enabling the transformation of South Africa’s economy through our broad-based black economic empowerment programmes.
This section of our reporting suite looks at how The Standard Bank of South Africa (SBSA) is enabling the transformation of South Africa’s economy through our broad-based black economic empowerment programmes. The report is structured according to the elements of the Financial Sector Code and covers the initiatives, projects, and strategies that are in place to drive transformation.
SEE moreThis section of our reporting suite looks at how The Standard Bank of South Africa (SBSA) is enabling the transformation of South Africa’s economy through our broad-based black economic empowerment programmes.
Enabling the transformation of South Africa’s economy aligns with our group social, economic and environmental (SEE) value driver which seeks to generate social, economic and environmental value for our stakeholders and society through our core business activities.
SEE moreThis section of our reporting suite looks at how The Standard Bank of South Africa (SBSA) is enabling the transformation of South Africa’s economy through our broad-based black economic empowerment programmes.
Standard Bank’s purpose is ‘Africa is our home, we drive her growth.’ Driving growth means an economy in which every South African, regardless of their race or gender or the social context, can access basic necessities; and an economy in which success and prosperity are the result of hard work and talent, rather than inherited privilege or personal connections. As a corporate citizen with a social responsibility, we are committed to supporting economic growth.
SEE moreThis section of our reporting suite looks at how The Standard Bank of South Africa (SBSA) is enabling the transformation of South Africa’s economy through our broad-based black economic empowerment programmes.
The report is structured according to the elements of the Financial Sector Code and covers the initiatives, projects, and strategies that are in place to drive transformation.
Standard Bank’s BEE Scorecard Ownership Management control Skills development Preferential procurement Socioeconomic development and consumer education Empowerment financing and enterprise and supplier development Access to financial servicesThis section of our reporting suite looks at how The Standard Bank of South Africa (SBSA) is enabling the transformation of South Africa’s economy through our broad-based black economic empowerment programmes.
More information about the ways in which Standard Bank is impacting on the economies and societies in which we operate.
SEE moreThis section of our reporting suite looks at how The Standard Bank of South Africa (SBSA) is enabling the transformation of South Africa’s economy through our broad-based black economic empowerment programmes.
We understand that to become the leading financial services organisation in, for and across Africa, we must contribute to the long-term prosperity of the communities and countries in which we operate, by facilitating inclusive economic growth and social development.
To do this effectively we must ensure our relevance to social needs and our capacity to help advance national objectives. Our vision commits us to contributing to socioeconomic development in a way that is consistent with the nature and size of our operations in the countries we serve.
Standard Bank aims to ensure that all our employees feel valued and included, and that diversity is welcomed as a business advantage. In South Africa, for example, our employee diversity and inclusion forums meet regularly, to ensure that both employees and management engage on key diversity and inclusion challenges and opportunities. The forums underpin our commitment to achieving a broad and united approach to diversity and inclusion.
Prism, a forum for LGBT+ employees and allies, was launched in South Africa in 2017. It provides support and guidance to line management and employees on understanding sexual orientation in the workplace and strives to create a working environment that encourages a culture of respect and equality.
In 2018, we ran an internal communications campaign across Standard Bank to encourage greater awareness of unconscious bias and appreciation of diversity. Many employees have undergone unconscious bias training.
Promoting gender equality
We’re not yet where we want to be in terms of gender parity at executive and senior management level, and we’re actively
working toward increasing the representation of women at these levels.
Reflective of this commitment, our Group CE Sim Tshabalala became one of UN Women’s HeForShe Thematic Champions in 2018. HeForShe is rooted in the understanding that gender equality will only be achieved with the involvement of men. The movement invites all people to stand together to create a gender-equal world. Sim stands alongside other leaders such as Dr Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank Group, & the presidents of Ghana, Rwanda and Malawi.
Gender equality in Standard Bank Group | ||||||||||
Number of women in the bank | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |||||||
Number of men in the bank | 27 387 | 27 915 | 28 128 | |||||||
Number of men in the bank | 20 032 | 20 407 | 20 494 | |||||||
Percentage of women in Standard Bank (%) | 57.8 | 57.8 | 57.9 | |||||||
Women in executive management positions (%) | 32.2![]() |
31.5 | 30.4 | |||||||
Women in senior management positions (%) | 39.4![]() |
38.2 | 37.5 | |||||||
Women in middle management positions (%) | 44.9 | 44.8 | 45.0 | |||||||
Women in junior management positions (%) | 50.9 | 50.9 | 51.2 |
Wealth International sponsored ‘The Big Debate’ in October, held in London’s City Hall. The panel discussion, entitled ‘Closing the Gap: How can gender equality be achieved in Africa?’ covered key issues facing women in Africa and highlighted positive changes currently taking place.
One of the ways in which we have sought to increase the number of women in senior management and executive positions has been through delivery of a variety of women’s leadership and development programmes. These include programmes at group level, such as CIB Ignite, designed to grow woman in upper middle and senior management, our Female Progression Programme, which targets women with the potential to assume chief executive positions, and group IT’s Women as Leaders programme, as well as numerous programmes implemented at country level.
During 2018 we conducted a review of these programmes and other initiatives across Standard Bank to assess the range of programmes offered, and their impact. Our review demonstrated that we have invested significantly in women’s development programmes and have made a clear commitment to driving the development and advancement of women across the group. We believe, however, that we can enhance the impact of the programmes by involving men more deliberately. We must also do more to deliver programmes that target broader audiences (not country or business area specific) to support the integration, expand networks and build relationships across the group.
Going forward, we recognise that to increase the impact of these programmes, we need a deeper understanding of the various barriers to advancement of women within Standard Bank, and how these differ across business area, region and country, to inform the design of impactful interventions. We’ll be taking this forward in 2019.
At the same time, we recognise that fairness is not about treating everyone the same, but about treating people in a way which enables them to achieve their full potential. In line with the UN HeforShe ethos, we aim to create an inclusive culture, and to engage men and women to interrogate and address the systemic and societal constraints that many women face. This includes making it easier for all employees, men and women, to manage the often-conflicting demands of work and home life, making it easier for women to integrate back into their positions after maternity leave, and offering opportunities for employees to take sabbaticals and extended leave periods when certain conditions are met.
Discrimination and harassment
While we have robust anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policies in place, we are unfortunately not able to eliminate
such instances entirely.
Our aim is to minimise incidents of discrimination and harassment, to ensure that all cases are promptly and justly handled, and that victims of abuse are supported. Standard Bank’s board and the social and ethics committee devoted considerable attention to these issues during 2018, assessing the robustness of Standard Bank’s grievance and disciplinary processes in relation to harassment and discrimination, whether the environment empowers employees to raise complaints, and whether hearings are fair and just.
After reviewing our existing policies and alignment to best practice, we revised and enhanced our group policies on harassment, sexual harassment and discrimination. These policies establish non-negotiable principles and standards on these issues, while allowing for in-country adaptations to dealing with complaints.
In 2018, we ran an internal communication campaign reiterating our zero-tolerance approach to harassment and discrimination. We encourage victims to come forward and commit that all complaints will be taken seriously, that the victim will be provided with the necessary support, and will in no way be prejudiced or disadvantaged as a result of having laid a bona fide complaint.
We also distributed a sexual harassment survey to a sample of employees across Standard Bank. This survey revealed that the majority of those sampled had not personally experienced sexual harassment in the preceding 12 month period. Most respondents were aware of our harassment policy and agreed that Standard Bank does not tolerate sexual harassment. The one area of concern that did emerge was the low level of reporting of potential incidents of sexual harassment. Going forward we need to strengthen awareness of the processes available to anyone who may experience sexual harassment.