Algeria
Citi Algeria
In Algeria, an already unstable political and economic environment has been made even more challenging by the Covid-19 outbreak. Citi Algeria has responded by engaging even more closely with selected clients while maintaining a healthy balance sheet. It has also been using technology to add value to client services.
Efficiency and caution were the bank’s watchwords as the risk environment deteriorated. It intensified its commercial attentions to existing clients as well as targeting new ones at a time when other banks were, in its words, “temporarily absent” or suffering disruption to their services.
The bank was able to ensure a smooth and early shift to remote work for most staff, and put in place contingency procedures to accept manually-initiated transactions. It held regular ‘deep dive’ portfolio reviews with risk partners, giving priority to clients in especially affected industries like automobiles and shipping. This allowed it to maintain its non-performing loan ratio at zero.
As other banks chose to review their presence in the domestic market, Citi Algeria was able to attract some major new clients in the oil and gas sector, and additional shares of wallet for large names in other industries.
A new digital direct debit solution handles all collections, improving clients’ control over a process which they can now initiate directly. Multinational clients have appreciated a solution which automatically funds salary accounts. An automatic sweep of the amount needed to fund salaries means they no longer have to send instructions for each payroll cycle.
“Lockdown has had a major impact on local and regional economies and oil prices are at unprecedented lows,” says Ramz Hamzaoui, Citi’s north Africa regional head and country officer for Algeria. “In spite of that, our clients have witnessed our ability to preserve undisrupted banking services in Algeria, responding to their needs, leveraging our balance sheet and maintaining strong controls.”
Angola
Standard Bank Angola
Standard Bank Angola increased its Tier 1 capital by nearly 50% in 2019 and its assets by more than one third. After Covid-19 struck, it was able to upgrade its core banking application remotely, with no visible impact on the customer.While a lower oil price and reduced foreign exchange availability have significantly affected the economy, the bank’s strategy remains the same. It aims to grow the client base with a sustainable, digitised business, creating value for customers and shareholders alike. At the same time it invests continually in the […]