Standard Chartered to hire 1,000 more staff in Africa

 

Standard Chartered plans to hire at least 1,000 more staff in Africa in the next couple of years, an increase of more than 10 percent, even as its expansion elsewhere has slowed.

Diana Layfield, Standard Chartered's chief executive for Africa, declined to specify where the extra staff would go, but picked out Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana as three of the most attractive markets.

Nigeria overtook South Africa as the continent's biggest economy this year after a rebasing of its gross domestic product (GDP).

After a decade of expansion that took it to 89,000 staff globally, Standard Chartered has put the brakes on hiring in the last two years after suffering an embarrassing fine for breaching U.S. sanctions, big losses in South Korea and a slowdown in its investment bank.

It has about 8,100 staff in Africa and has a significant presence in 15 countries there.

Standard Chartered, Barclays and Citigroup are the biggest international banks in Africa, but they are facing increasing competition from Asian banks, including Chinese ones.