STANDARD LESOTHO BANK: Support at Scale, Where Others Cannot Reach

Lesotho achieved economic growth of 2% in 2023, and expectations are that the mountainous country will improve in 2024, achieving 2.7%. Major national projects drive contributing industry sectors. In comparison, Lesotho’s powerhouse neighbour, South Africa, achieved growth of just 0.6% in the same period.

A relatively stable investment destination, with a number of internationally significant companies, Lesotho continues to shine as a star of sub-Saharan Africa because of its agriculture, mining, and technology innovations. But the major Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), now in its second phase after starting out in 1992, is a catalyst for activity across the region.

When Enterprise Africa spoke to Standard Lesotho Bank in 2018, there was a focus on digitisation. In 2019, the company was expanding into new parts of the country, driving financial inclusion. 2021 saw new products launched through an improved digital presence to further growth in Lesotho. And in 2022, customer service was under the spotlight as the company aimed to secure its industry leadership.

Now, CEO Anton Nicolaisen tells Enterprise Africa that by building on company culture, service excellence is improved, and this allows the company to underpin major infrastructure projects, including the LHWP.

“We have worked a lot in terms of our culture to ensure people are engaged,” he says of SLB’s 720 employees. “We have made good progress in that regard. We have created a programme which encourages all employees to become raving supporters of the bank and we continue to build that muscle. We are also focusing a lot on improving customer service.”

CULTURE BUILDING

‘We make banking convenient for you’ is the promise of SLB and with 17 official branches and 65 branded ATMs all over the country, the company is bringing the bank to the people. At the same time, digital offerings are still reaching further than ever before as SLB takes advantage of a government push to improve ICT provision. Online banking and a new app are useful for business and personal customers, and a call centre is on hand to deal with many requests meaning customers, especially those is more rural areas, do not need to travel to a central branch. The company is also home to a wide portfolio of products and services from daily banking to savings, loans, insurance, and much more.

Building the infrastructure behind the scenes for the past few years, SLB now has a robust platform from which it can grow. “We are a subsidiary of Standard Bank and we are on a cloud journey to localise a lot of our data,” details Nicolaisen. “We decoupled from the South African environment and we are standing on our own so that we can move entirely to the cloud – that has been a big focus for us recently.” 

He adds that the enterprise market in Lesotho is important in this growth, and still represents significant opportunities even after SLB has been serving the market for 29 years. “We have put into the market some new trade solutions and discounting of invoice solutions. That is quite new for this market and it has been well received. We see that as a good market that we can grow effectively.”

Promoting the company’s abilities is down the people within SLB, and new communication channels have been opened to ensure a clear and easy delivery off the Standard Bank message internally. At home in Africa for more than 160 years, the Standard Bank Group has been pivotal in accelerating financial inclusion, sustainable income growth, investment opportunities, and much more. Building vibrant company culture is important for Nicolaisen.

“In order to build the brand, you must encourage staff to buy into the brand first. We are doing a lot of activities that will involve people,” he confirms. “We created the social media platform where people can talk together and discuss successes – we actively encouraged people to be involved in that. We are also linking up top performers for meetings with senior management, in an informal setting, so that they can engage and discuss the brand. When they are positive about the brand, they take that positivity with them.

“We want to build transparency and openness – those are the pillars in the culture and with them comes improved teamwork,” he says.

But the chief focus for SLB from a project perspective is the final years of the LHWP. This bi-national mega project sees a complex network of tunnels and dams put in place to direct water from the Lesotho Highlands for use in South Africa, generating hydroelectric power for Lesotho at the same time.

FINANCIAL SOLUTIONS LEADER

“It is very important for Lesotho,” says Nicolaisen. “For a small country, it is a R43 billion water project in the mountains. SLB was critical in providing financial solutions. We see ourselves as the leader when it comes to providing appropriate financial solutions to various markets. We want to drive growth in the country, that is very important for us.”

The first phase of the project accelerated economic development dramatically, contributing 4.8% GDP in 2007 and creating around 9000 jobs.  

“It’s all about providing water for Gauteng – the economic heartland of southern Africa,” adds Nicolaisen. “The governments have an agreement, and they have built infrastructure over a number of years including the Katse Dam and the Mohale Reservoir. Now, we are in Phase 2 and the build of the Polihali Dam. Our support goes across the whole project – the build of the dam, construction of bridges, tunnel systems between the dams, and tunnel systems into South Africa.

“We are facilitating many of the contracts, many of which are with international companies. We are facilitating the guarantees for contractors, and we have the ability to link Lesotho to China and Italy where many of the contractors are based. We are obviously helping with the transaction flows as well.

“The project will go until 2028 and we are happy to be involved in the peak across this year and next year.” 

In the near future and beyond, SLB will continue to bring unwavering support to personal and business customers in Lesotho, fulfilling its mission of speeding up African growth. at the same time, its support of high-level economy-supporting infrastructure projects is also essential as the only bank in the country able to provide services at such scale. For Nicolaisen, expansion is undoubted.

“We have between 50-60% of the market and we will be growing selectively, with a big focus on retention, and building with our existing customers. We will also expand with solutions that are not in the market so that we can continue to scale the business,” he concludes.