Standard Chartered is bullish about the UAE’s growth prospects and its broader Middle East and Africa businesses. The emerging markets-focused lender expects a significantly higher revenue contribution from these markets in the next five years. The UAE is among the top-five global markets for the London-based bank and the Middle East and Africa region accounted for about 20 per cent of the lender’s revenue in 2021. The lender generates about 70 per cent of its revenue from Asia, 10 per cent from the Middle East, 10 per cent from markets in Africa and the rest from its operations in the US and Europe. Standard Chartered, which operates in 59 markets, reported a 3.5 per cent jump in its Middle East and Africa revenue to $2.45 billion in 2021, while its operating profit in the region climbed to $856 million, the highest since 2015.
Standard Chartered expects Asia to remain its main engine of growth this year and next and does not expect an impact on its operations and earnings owing to Russia’s military offensive in Ukraine. The bank does not have operations in Russia or Ukraine and has minimal exposure to clients in these markets. The Ukraine-Russian crisis increase uncertainty but there are enough avenues for the world economy to grow as pandemic-related headwinds subside. The global economy bounced back strongly in 2021 despite pandemic-driven headwinds and the emergence of new variants of Covid-19 that led to border closures and fresh restriction in countries in Europe and Asia. Those restrictions are now being rolled back and growth momentum has continued this year.