Standard Bank’s Group Company Secretary, Advocate Sigrid Tjijorokisa.
Standard Bank is making progress in complying with the Namibian Financial Sector Charter (FSC), a move targeted towards bringing accelerated development and transformation in the nation’s financial sector. According to Standard Bank’s recent report on Financial Sector Charter compliance, the bank’s overall compliance to the Namibian Financial Sector Charter (FSC) stood at 61% as at 31 December 2013. The Namibian Financial Sector Charter is a voluntarily adopted transformation charter introduced by the Ministry of Finance in November 2008. It constitutes a framework and establishes the principles upon which empowerment will be implemented in the financial services industry in Namibia. The objective of the Charter is to facilitate the transformation of the Namibian financial sector and to bring about tangible benefits for Namibians. Standard Bank, through the Namibian Bankers Association, is a signatory to the Charter. According to Advocate Sigrid Tjijorokisa, the Group Company Secretary of Standard Bank, “Standard Bank Namibia is pleased to be making excellent progress in achieving compliance to the Charter. Even though compliance to the Charter is voluntary, Standard Bank believes that achieving these targets by all main players in the financial sector will contribute to a stronger financial and economic system as a whole.”
Tjijorokisa added, “Standard Bank Namibia aims to achieve specific targets that are set for the following pillars of the Charter: ownership and control; human resources development; preferential procurement and enterprise development; corporate social investment; empowerment financing; and access and affordability of products and services.” The Exercisable Voting Rights of Broad Based Economic Empowerment (BBEE) beneficiaries board members of Standard Bank currently stand at 77% whilst the Exercisable Voting Rights of Women Broad Based Economic Empowerment beneficiaries board members currently stand at 60%. In relation to employment equity, the representation of BBEE beneficiaries in Junior and Middle Management stands at 58.54% against the Namibian FSC target of 30% and the budgeted investment on learning and development for the 2013 financial year as a percentage of payroll stood at 3% where as the target set by the NFSC is 2%.
