Standard Chartered Bank — multiple roles

In 1965, the Standard Bank of South Africa merged with the Bank of West Africa acquiring businesses including a banking operation in Nigeria, which dated back to 1894. The name was then changed to Standard Bank of West Africa. Four years after the merger, Standard Bank Nigeria was incorporated locally to take over the business in Nigeria. In 1971, 13% of the share capital was placed with Nigerian investors. The end of the civil war saw a major economic upturn and as a consequence, the military government sought to increase local control of the retail-banking sector, hence the Bank’s investment in Standard Bank Nigeria (renamed First Bank of Nigeria in 1979) was reduced to 38%. Standard Chartered remained a shareholder of First Bank of Nigeria until 1996. Standard Chartered re-entered Nigeria in 1999 and opened to customers on 15 September 1999 as a wholly owned subsidiary of Standard Chartered Bank Plc, headquartered in United Kingdom. It now has 42 branches located in Lagos, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Ibadan, Kano, Kaduna, Maiduguri, Ota, Aba, Onitsha and Onne offering a wide range of products and services in Retail, Corporate and Institutional Banking. It employs over 900 employees and sees Nigeria as a growth centre.