Sim Tshabalala - Afrikan Heroes

Standard Bank Decries Massive Destruction of Branches in South Africa

July 19, 2021

The Chief Executive Officer of Standard Bank Sim Tshabalala has decried the level of destruction on his bank as a result of the rioting that hit cities across South Africa recently noting that in a matter of days, dozens of Standard Bank’s branches and hundreds of its ATMs were damaged. According to Mr. Tshanalala, even though the country is going through a difficult time, it is important to think of the long term.

Standard Bank closed 81 branches in KwaZulu-Natal and 116 branches in Gauteng, as well as in other parts of the country. Over the past few days, 33 of Standard Bank’s branches and 220 of its ATMs have been damaged in unrest, according to its CEO Sim Tshabalala. “The damage is huge,” he said in response to a question about the impact of riots mainly in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal.

Protests related to former president Jacob Zuma’s incarceration escalated into rioting over the weekend. A number of businesses have been looted, property has been damaged and there have been road blockages on the country’s main economic arteries.

A number of businesses have also closed or implemented forces majeures as safety precautions.

In terms of damage to infrastructure, a total of 33 branches have been damaged – 20 in KwaZulu-Natal and 13 in Gauteng. A total of 220 ATMs out of 4 200 have also been targeted, said Tshabalala. He added that Standard Bank staff had also been impacted in terms of struggling to access food, petrol and medicine – a reflection of what is happening in the broader environment.

“We have seen no impact yet on liquidity. And we still think it is too difficult to see what damage is suffered from a credit point of view.

“You can imagine certain regions and certain sectors will have severe difficulties in the short to medium term, as a result of the destruction of property, their inability to trade and their inability to have access to warehouses and so forth. So the damage is just huge,” said Tshabalala.

The impact is also seen on customers and the way they are conducting transactions, and the impact on mental health is also apparent, he added.

“Even with all that, it is important for us as leaders to continue to remind ourselves – this too shall pass. We must focus on doing the right thing,” he said. “Even in the most difficult of times, it is important to think of the long term, understand what is possible and make contribution to a greater and better future.”

“What this country and what many countries in the world [have] been through the last 15 or 17 months have been dehumanising and disorientating. And then to overlay it with what we experienced in South Africa in the last few days has been a real hammer blow.”

Munro, however, added it is critical for the economy to function and for businesses to grow.

“We as business leaders need to be resilient and try to rebuild and focus on long term. We must work with authorities to stabilise the situation as fast as we can, support them…” he said.

Kelechi Deca

Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry

Standard Bank Partners Microsoft to Boost Innovation and Drive Growth in Africa

June 18, 2021

Standard Bank Group Chief Executive, Sim Tshabalala

One of Africa’s leading financial powerhouses, Standard Bank Group and Microsoft announced a strategic partnership to accelerate the digital transformation of Africa’s largest financial institution and further drive the continent’s growth.The Bank’s growing investment in the Microsoft Cloud will enable the innovation, efficiencies, and resilience required to respond to market dynamics and customer needs.

This partnership builds on the 30-year relationship between the two companies and involves migrating workloads, applications, and platforms to Microsoft Azure to drive organisational efficiencies, as well as workforce collaboration with Azure, PowerApps, Workplace Analytics and Microsoft Teams.

“Investing in the cloud will allow Standard Bank to achieve its strategy to transform from a traditional financial services company into a digital platform company, providing financial services, plus ancillary and associated services. We have adopted a cloud-first strategy, underpinned by end-to-end security and data-driven insights that will enable transformation with tangible results,” says Standard Bank Group Chief Executive, Sim Tshabalala.

“Standard Bank’s cloud-first strategy underlines the growing momentum in financial services to deliver differentiated experiences that today’s customers expect,” said Judson Althoff, Microsoft’s executive vice president of Worldwide Commercial Business.

“As a long-standing technology partner, we are pleased to collaborate with Standard Bank in realizing this strategy and in becoming Africa’s future-first financial services firm through digital skilling-focused initiatives that will expand economic opportunity for young people across Africa.”

As part of the partnership, the companies will also: Establish the African Digital Foundry (The Foundry), a strategic alliance, for Standard Bank and Microsoft to collaborate to co-create unique solutions through new technology to meet the financial needs of Africa’s consumers. Through the Foundry, the companies aspire to reach 100 million customers in Africa over the next five years.

Bring together their resources and know-how to provide youth with the relevant digital skills needed to secure future-ready jobs and equip Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with digital skills and capabilities so that they can take advantage of the growing shift to digital technologies.

Standard Bank and Microsoft, through the Foundry, will co-create and execute joint go-to-market digital services related to trade, payment, and risk-based (lending and insurance) solutions. They will also develop ecosystems enabling digital trading to facilitate Africa’s growth.

“The Foundry is a digital initiative established in Africa, for Africans, to address the unique challenges the continent faces with customised innovations, services and solutions,” says Tshabalala

“The partnership will further enhance and create ongoing collaboration between our firms around co-engineering solutions for African consumers’ unique needs.”

Harnessing the power and reach of both organisations, the partnership will also drive digital skills development, boost youth employment, and accelerate the growth of SMEs on the African continent.

Both organisations believe that digital transformation represents an opportunity for the continent to leap ahead, taking a leading role in enabling economic and societal growth in Africa.

Microsoft and Standard Bank will leverage their combined research, industry, partner and start-up programmes to impact the continent – where similar opportunities and challenges exist – using technology such as mixed reality and artificial intelligence.

“Continuing to build on the partnership is part of the ongoing journey that Standard Bank and Microsoft are on to invest in digital transformation as the enabler of meaningful and tangible innovation. Our journey is underpinned by collaborative efforts to develop, scale and roll out digital solutions that will deliver personalised services to 100 million Africans and by meeting their unique and evolving needs and demands,” says Tshabalala.