Standard Chartered Agrees to Sell Business in Jordan

A branch of Standard Chartered Bank in London. (Reuters)
A branch of Standard Chartered Bank in London. (Reuters)
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Standard Chartered Agrees to Sell Business in Jordan

A branch of Standard Chartered Bank in London. (Reuters)
A branch of Standard Chartered Bank in London. (Reuters)

Standard Chartered plans to sell its Jordanian business to Arab Jordan Investment Bank (AJIB), the two parties said on Sunday, as Standard Chartered presses ahead with plans to exit seven markets in Africa and the Middle East.

The bank entered into an agreement with AJIB, subject to central bank approval, which will see Standard Chartered's corporate, commercial, and institutional banking, consumer lending, and private banking businesses migrated to AJIB.

Standard Chartered is a British bank operating in more than 50 countries and headquartered in London.

All Standard Chartered Bank employees in Jordan will be transferred to AJIB, it said in a statement.

Standard Chartered's Africa and Middle East CEO Sunil Kaushal said the agreement is aligned with the bank's global strategy "to deliver efficiencies, reduce complexity, as well as redirect resources within the Africa Middle East region to areas with the greatest potential to drive scale, grow and better support clients."

AJIB said the purchase falls within the Jordanian lender's strategy to grow its market share in the country, which continues to grow after it acquired HSBC's banking business in Jordan in 2014 and the National Bank of Kuwait's banking business in Jordan in 2022.

Standard Chartered in April 2022 said it plans to leave seven markets: Angola, Cameroon, Gambia, Jordan, Lebanon, Sierra Leone, and Zimbabwe.

The bank said at the time it was seeking to exit markets where it is sub-scale and narrow its focus to faster-growing markets in the region, such as Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Meanwhile, the Amman Stock Exchange bourse closed Sunday’s session at 2577.59 points, a drop of 0.14 percent. Total traded shares reached 3.3 million worth 4.4 million Jordanian dinars due to completing 2,119 deals.



Berlin Eyes Partnership with Riyadh in Expo 2030, Climate Cooperation, Hydrogen Initiatives

Saudi and German flags fluttering - File Photo/Asharq Al-Awsat
Saudi and German flags fluttering - File Photo/Asharq Al-Awsat
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Berlin Eyes Partnership with Riyadh in Expo 2030, Climate Cooperation, Hydrogen Initiatives

Saudi and German flags fluttering - File Photo/Asharq Al-Awsat
Saudi and German flags fluttering - File Photo/Asharq Al-Awsat

A senior German official affirmed his country’s commitment to strengthening cooperation with Saudi Arabia across various fields, noting that bilateral trade relations continue to grow steadily, with trade volume reaching around 7 billion Euros.

Speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat, German Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Michael Kindsgrab said: “The sectors driving this growth—chemicals, machinery, and transport—reflect the strong industrial connections we share. These are areas where German expertise is making a real difference in Saudi Arabia’s development.”

He added: “Looking ahead, there is much to be excited about. Expo 2030 is an incredible opportunity for us to further deepen our collaboration, showcase the best of what both Saudi Arabia and Germany have to offer, and inspire future generations to continue building on this remarkable partnership.”

German Ambassador to Saudi Arabia Michael Kindsgrab - Asharq Al-Awsat

Renewable Energy

On climate cooperation, the official said: “As for climate cooperation, we have just launched a relevant study on the Saudi labor market in the renewable energy sector, which was reviewed by the National Labor Observatory and discussed with experts of KAPSARC, KaCare and PSU. This is a great example of our close and meaningful partnership, tackling the challenges of today with an eye on the future.”

Blossoming Relations

Kindsgrab noted that Saudi-German relations are truly blossoming, saying: "I am proud to see our partnership becoming deeper and stronger across so many areas. From a personal perspective, it is inspiring to witness the growing bonds between our two countries. These ties span a wide range of sectors, including energy, transport, architecture, health, education and culture—creating a solid foundation for the future.”

“One of the most exciting aspects of our cooperation is in the area of energy transition. German innovation is at the heart of NEOM’s green hydrogen projects, with Thyssenkrupp Nucera playing a key technological role in making the vision of decarbonization of industry a reality,” he affirmed.

“Beyond energy, we’re also seeing significant progress in transport, where Siemens’ delivery of metro wagons helped to shape the modern infrastructure of Saudi cities. And let’s not forget the impact of German architecture in megaprojects such as King Salman Park or the design of Expo 2030, which I believe will be a landmark event for both our countries, ” added Kindsgrab.

“In the health sector, the collaboration with Charité in Berlin is another example of how our nations are working together to improve lives.”

Accelerated Cultural Cooperation

“And now, I am particularly excited to see the acceleration of cultural cooperation, such as the recently launched museum initiative between the Saudi Museums Commission and the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation of Germany,” the German ambassador stressed.

“This cooperation emerged as part of our shared efforts to strengthen people-to-people ties and will play an enriching role for the cultural relations, as it includes a loan program for artworks, joint curatorship and training programs to support talent development,” he concluded.