The Gambia is the smallest country on the African continental mainland (population 1.6 million and GDP $506m) but it is a viable market for Standard Chartered. The judges were impressed by the bank’s willingness to launch new products into the market and roll out its group-wide customer service initiative, Outserve.
“Outserve has provided us with the platform to streamline our processes, remove customer service negatives and improve customer service turnaround time. In the process, we increased our market share of deposits and total number of customers,” says CEO and managing director Onesimo J Mukumba.
An improved loan application process combined with enhanced risk management resulted in a total assets rise of 10.4% and an NPL ratio improvement from 27% to 16%. Although overall profitability was modestly up in 2005, the bank was able to report a muscular 59% RoE.
“This award is testimony to our leadership position as the premier financial institution in the country with the largest market share measured by all financial indicators. We have the most successful community partnership initiatives and are the market leader in regulatory compliance, product development and technological sophistication,” says Mr Mukumba.
