EXCLUSIVE: Standard Bank Group Chief Executive Tshabalala and Board Chair Nonkululeko, meet BOU officials over changes at Stanbic Uganda

The Standard Bank Group (SBG) Chief Executive Sim Tshabalala and Board Chairman Nonkululeko Nyembezi were reportedly in Uganda for two days, last week, during which they held meetings with different stakeholders including with officials of the Central Bank with whom they discussed the ongoing executive leadership changes at Stanbic Bank.

The Standard Bank Group is the majority owner of Stanbic Uganda Holdings Limited (SUHL) the listed entity that operates Stanbic Properties, Stanbic Business Incubator, SBG Securities, FlyHub, and Stanbic Bank—the country’s largest commercial lender.

According to inside sources, the Thursday, April 4, 2024 meeting was attended by among others, the Deputy Governor Michael Atingi-Ego, and the Executive Director of Commercial Bank Supervision Tumubweine Twinemanzi.

The BOU officials reportedly acknowledged the ongoing executive leadership changes at Stanbic Bank Uganda, following the redeployment of the former Chief Executive Anne Juuko who has since transitioned into another role as Regional Global Markets Head.

During last week’s plenary, Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa supported the Otuke County representative Paul Omara’s submission calling on Parliament to back Central Bank’s alleged decision to reject the appointment of a foreign Chief Executive for the country’s largest commercial bank.

The regulator reportedly distanced itself from the anti-foreign executive sentiments in the media and acknowledged the pan-African employment policy favoured by the Standard Bank Group whose operations are present in more than 20 African markets.

Last week, Stanbic Bank announced Sam Mwogeza and Barbara Dokoria as Interim Chief Executive, and Executive Director, respectively, to run management until substantive appointments are made.

In last week’s meeting, sources say, BOU asked Stanbic Uganda to urgently regularise the bank’s interim appointments to align them with regulatory dictates that require the Chief Executive and Executive Director to be serving Board Directors of the company.

The meeting also tasked Patrick Mweheire—the Standard Bank’s Regional Chief Executive for East Africa to play a more active role in overseeing the interim management period at Stanbic Bank until the process to appoint a substantive Chief Executive is concluded.

This week, the Standard Bank Group is expected to submit a fresh list of nominees for the position of substantive chief executive for Central Bank’s consideration. It is not clear whether the new list will only have Ugandans.

In October 2001, the Standard Bank Investment Cooperation of South Africa (Stanbic) won the bid to purchase 80 per cent of the shares in the former government-owned Uganda Commercial Bank Limited (UCBL) beating DFCU Bank. The balance of 20 per cent shares was listed on the stock exchange market and sold to Ugandans.

Last month, the company declared a Profit After Tax of UGX 412 billion having remitted UGX 354 billion in taxes. It also declared double digit Return on Equity growth at 22.5 per cent with shareholder returns increasing to UGX 1.9 trillion in 2023 from UGX 1.78 trillion in 2022 while dividend pay-out will increase to 68 per cent for the FY 2023, from 66 per cent the previous year—subject to regulatory approvals.