• Standard Bank opened a representative office in Egypt on November 12, 2025, to connect Gulf and African markets.

• The bank plans to obtain a full banking license in Egypt to expand lending, deposit, and project financing activities.

• Standard Bank operates in 21 African countries and four global financial hubs, including Dubai and London.

South Africa’s Standard Bank Group has opened a representative office in Egypt to leverage the growing capital and trade flows between Africa and the Middle East. The move aims to position the continent’s largest bank by assets as a bridge between sub-Saharan Africa and Gulf investors whose engagement in African markets is accelerating.

“Egypt’s role as a connector between the Gulf and Africa has become undeniable,” said Group CEO Sim Tshabalala during the office’s inauguration ceremony near the Giza pyramids. “We need more than just mobile banking services. We need a physical base in Egypt and closer cooperation with our Dubai colleagues to serve our clients better,” he added.

Tshabalala said the new office will act as a conduit linking corporations, investors, and multinationals with investment opportunities across the bank’s 21 African markets.

Rassem Zok, Standard Bank’s Head for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), described Egypt as one vertex of a “triangle linking the Gulf region to sub-Saharan Africa.” He noted that the group has operated for two decades in the Dubai International Financial Centre, serving as a hub for cross-regional financial activity.

Tshabalala highlighted that Egypt’s economic recovery and the rise in intra-African trade are generating new business opportunities. He noted that the bank has observed “intensified movement of clients, capital, and goods between Egypt and the rest of Africa.”

Standard Bank does not intend to limit its operations in Egypt to a representative office. In April 2024, the bank submitted an application for a full banking license to Egyptian regulators. The license would allow it to collect deposits, issue loans to corporate and retail clients, and finance projects across multiple economic sectors.

Founded in 1862 in South Africa, Standard Bank operates subsidiaries in 21 African markets including Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. It is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and the Namibian Stock Exchange, and maintains international offices in Dubai, London, New York, and Beijing.

This article was initially published in French by Walid Kéfi 

Adapted in English by Ange Jason Quenum