Bank of British West Africa
Encyclopedia
Bank of British West Africa was a British Overseas bank that was important in introducing modern banking into the countries that emerged from the UK's West African colonies. In 1957 it changed its name to Bank of West Africa, and in 1965 was acquired by Standard Bank
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Standard Bank (historic)
The Standard Bank was a British overseas bank, which operated mainly in Africa from 1863 to 1969. It merged with the Chartered Bank in 1969 to form Standard Chartered.-History:...
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History
- 1891 Elder Dempster shipping magnate Alfred Lewis JonesAlfred Lewis JonesSir Alfred Lewis Jones , British ship-owner, was born in Carmarthenshire, Wales.At the age of twelve he was apprenticed to the managers of the African Steamship Company at Liverpool, making several voyages to the west coast of Africa. By the time he was twenty-six he had risen to be manager of the...
(born in CarmarthenCarmarthenCarmarthen is a community in, and the county town of, Carmarthenshire, Wales. It is sited on the River Towy north of its mouth at Carmarthen Bay. In 2001, the population was 14,648....
, Wales in 1845) and George William Neville (born at Richmond, near London in 1852), the local agent of Elder Dempster & Co. of LiverpoolLiverpoolLiverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
, attempted to develop a banking operation along the Guinea coast - 1892 African Banking CorporationAfrican Banking CorporationAfrican Banking Corporation was a British Overseas Bank, that is, it had a headquarters in London but all its branches were overseas. Unusually, it was a consortium bank , rather than being owned by individuals...
acquired Elder Dempster's banking operations in LagosLagosLagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
, NigeriaNigeriaNigeria , officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a federal constitutional republic comprising 36 states and its Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. The country is located in West Africa and shares land borders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in...
. Within a year they wished to close it down. Instead, they sold the operation to A.L. Jones and Elder Dempster - 1893 Elder Dempster helped form Bank of British West Africa (BBWA) which took over the ex-ABC operation in LagosLagosLagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
. Eventually, BBWA established branches in Liverpool, London, and Manchester. - 1894 Elder Dempster Co, were appointed agents in FreetownFreetownFreetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
, Sierra LeoneSierra LeoneSierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
and BathurstBanjul-Transport:Ferries sail from Banjul to Barra. The city is served by the Banjul International Airport. Banjul is on the Trans–West African Coastal Highway connecting it to Dakar and Bissau, and will eventually provide a paved highway link to 11 other nations of ECOWAS.Banjul International Airport...
, The GambiaThe GambiaThe Republic of The Gambia, commonly referred to as The Gambia, or Gambia , is a country in West Africa. Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, surrounded by Senegal except for a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean in the west....
for BBWA. BBWA also took over ABC's TangierTangierTangier, also Tangiers is a city in northern Morocco with a population of about 700,000 . It lies on the North African coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel...
branch. - 1896 BBWA established a branch in AccraAccraAccra is the capital and largest city of Ghana, with an urban population of 1,658,937 according to the 2000 census. Accra is also the capital of the Greater Accra Region and of the Accra Metropolitan District, with which it is coterminous...
, GhanaGhanaGhana , officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country located in West Africa. It is bordered by Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Gulf of Guinea to the south...
. Its main business then was the distribution of silver coins, of which it was the sole supplier. As the only bank in the country at the time, it came to play a unique role in the economy, acting as the Central Bank. In 1902, it opened another branch in Sekondi. It opened an agency in ObuasiObuasiObuasi is a city in southern Ghana, lying south of Kumasi. It has a population of 115,564 On the railway line from Kumasi to Sekondi, it is known for its gold mine, now one of the ten largest in the world, gold having been mined on the site since at least the seventeenth century. Tourists can...
in 1905, which it raised to the status of a branch in 1909. In 1906 it opened a branch in KumasiKumasiKumasi is a city in southern central Ghana's Ashanti region. It is located near Lake Bosomtwe, in the Rain Forest Region about northwest of Accra. Kumasi is approximately north of the Equator and north of the Gulf of Guinea...
. British Bank of West Africa expanded its network to cover most of the main business centres in the Gold CoastGold Coast (British colony)The Gold Coast was a British colony on the Gulf of Guinea in west Africa that became the independent nation of Ghana in 1957.-Overview:The first Europeans to arrive at the coast were the Portuguese in 1471. They encountered a variety of African kingdoms, some of which controlled substantial...
and went on to dominate commercial banking in Ghana - 1898 BBWA established a branch in FreetownFreetownFreetown is the capital and largest city of Sierra Leone, a country in West Africa. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean located in the Western Area of the country, and had a city proper population of 772,873 at the 2004 census. The city is the economic, financial, and cultural center of...
, Sierra LeoneSierra LeoneSierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4... - 1902 BBWA established a branch in BathurstBanjul-Transport:Ferries sail from Banjul to Barra. The city is served by the Banjul International Airport. Banjul is on the Trans–West African Coastal Highway connecting it to Dakar and Bissau, and will eventually provide a paved highway link to 11 other nations of ECOWAS.Banjul International Airport...
, The GambiaThe GambiaThe Republic of The Gambia, commonly referred to as The Gambia, or Gambia , is a country in West Africa. Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, surrounded by Senegal except for a short coastline on the Atlantic Ocean in the west.... - In about 1910 BBWA established a branch in TenerifeTenerifeTenerife is the largest and most populous island of the seven Canary Islands, it is also the most populated island of Spain, with a land area of 2,034.38 km² and 906,854 inhabitants, 43% of the total population of the Canary Islands. About five million tourists visit Tenerife each year, the...
, in the Canary Isles - 1912 BBWA took over the activities of Bank of Nigeria, which local merchants had established in 1899 or 1902 to create a competitor to BBWA
- 1915 BBWA established a branch in DoualaDoualaDouala is the largest city in Cameroon and the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Province. Home to Cameroon's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Airport, it is the commercial capital of the country...
, The CameroonsCameroonsBritish Cameroons was a British Mandate territory in West Africa, now divided between Nigeria and Cameroon.The area of present-day Cameroon was claimed by Germany as a protectorate during the "Scramble for Africa" at the end of the 19th century...
, following the Anglo-French invasion - 1916 BBWA closed its branch in Douala following Douala's transfer to French administration, but opened an agency in New YorkNew YorkNew York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
- 1918 BBWA opened a branch in AlexandriaAlexandriaAlexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, EgyptEgyptEgypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world... - 1919 Lloyds BankLloyds BankLloyds Bank Plc was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales from 1765 until its merger into Lloyds TSB in 1995; it remains a registered company but is currently dormant. It expanded during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and took over a number of smaller banking companies...
and three other banks became shareholders in BBWA - 1912 BBWA re-opened a branch in Douala, French Cameroons, and in CairoCairoCairo , is the capital of Egypt and the largest city in the Arab world and Africa, and the 16th largest metropolitan area in the world. Nicknamed "The City of a Thousand Minarets" for its preponderance of Islamic architecture, Cairo has long been a centre of the region's political and cultural life...
- 1923 Standard Bank of South AfricaStandard Bank (historic)The Standard Bank was a British overseas bank, which operated mainly in Africa from 1863 to 1969. It merged with the Chartered Bank in 1969 to form Standard Chartered.-History:...
took over BBWA's New York agency. Lloyds BankLloyds BankLloyds Bank Plc was a British retail bank which operated in England and Wales from 1765 until its merger into Lloyds TSB in 1995; it remains a registered company but is currently dormant. It expanded during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and took over a number of smaller banking companies...
acquired Cox & Co, which had branches in Egypt, but was itself a shareholder in BBWA. To avoid competing with itself, Lloyds had BBWA transfer its Egyptian business to Lloyds Bank. In 1926 Lloyds transferred its operations in Egypt to the National Bank of EgyptNational Bank of Egypt- in arabic National Bank of Egypt is the oldest and largest bank in Egypt, and has 405 branches within the country, including 131 in Cairo. It has assets of L.E. 185.3 bn., total deposits of L.E. 155.2 bn., and total loans and advances of L.E. 83 bn... - Between 1930 and 1940 BBWA closed most of its branches it had established in MoroccoMoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, the Canary IslandsCanary IslandsThe Canary Islands , also known as the Canaries , is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara. The Canaries are a Spanish autonomous community and an outermost region of the European Union...
and Fernando PoBiokoBioko is an island 32 km off the west coast of Africa, specifically Cameroon, in the Gulf of Guinea. It is the northernmost part of Equatorial Guinea with a population of 124,000 and an area of . It is volcanic with its highest peak the Pico Basile at .-Geography:Bioko has a total area of... - In 1937 or so, BBWA established a branch in HamburgHamburg-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, Germany - 1953 BBWA lost its central banking functions in Ghana. The Ghanaian government established the Bank of the Gold CoastBank of GhanaThe Bank of Ghana is the central bank of Ghana. It is located in Accra and was formed in 1957. Its name is abbreviated to BOG.-Brief Historical Background:...
to combine commercial banking activities and central banking functions - In 1954 or so BBWA closed its Hamburg branch, which presumably had been in abeyance during World War II and reopened thereafter
- 1957 Bank of British West Africa changed its name to Bank of West Africa (BWA)
- 1963 BWA closed its branch in Tangier
- 1965 Standard Bank acquired BWA, and renamed it Standard Bank of West Africa. SBWA acquired the Liberian and Nigerian branches of Chase Manhattan BankChase Manhattan BankJPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., doing business as Chase, is a national bank that constitutes the consumer and commercial banking subsidiary of financial services firm JPMorgan Chase. The bank was known as Chase Manhattan Bank until it merged with J.P. Morgan & Co. in 2000...
in return for Chase taking a 15% stake in Standard Bank, a stake that it sold in the late 1970s. BWA still operated one branch each in the French and British Cameroon Mandates, and in Morocco - 1969 Standard Bank merged with Chartered BankChartered Bank of India, Australia and ChinaThe Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China was a bank founded in London in 1851/1853 by Scotsman James Wilson following the grant of a Royal Charter from Queen Victoria. It opened its first branches in 1858 in Calcutta and Bombay and then in 1863 in Karachi and Shanghai...
to form Standard Chartered BankStandard Chartered BankStandard Chartered PLC is a multinational financial services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom with operations in more than seventy countries...
. SBWA spun off Standard Bank of Ghana, Standard Bank Nigeria, and Standard Bank of Sierra Leone, which went on to have separate histories- On 1 January 1985 the Ghanaian operation became Standard Chartered Bank Ghana, under which name it continues to operate
- In 1971, Standard Bank of Nigeria placed 13% of its share capital with Nigerian investors. After the end of the Nigerian Civil WarNigerian Civil WarThe Nigerian Civil War, also known as the Nigerian-Biafran War, 6 July 1967–15 January 1970, was a political conflict caused by the attempted secession of the southeastern provinces of Nigeria as the self-proclaimed Republic of Biafra...
, Nigeria's military government sought to increase local control of the retail-banking sector. Standard Chartered Bank's investment in Standard Bank Nigeria fell to 38%, and the bank changed its name to First Bank of NigeriaFirst Bank of NigeriaFirst Bank of Nigeria is a Nigerian bank and financial services firm.First Bank traces its ancestry back to the first major financial institution founded in Nigeria; hence the name. The current chairman is Dr. Ayoola Oba Otudeko, OFR...
in 1979. Standard Chartered sold its remaining shares in First Bank of Nigeria in 1996. The present Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria, therefore, traces its presence in Nigeria only to 1999, when the bank re-entered Nigeria with a new, wholly owned subsidiary - The present Standard Chartered Bank Sierra Leone traces its corporate history back to BBWA's commissioning the Elder Dempster as its agents in Freetown in 1894
- Between 1969 and 1974, Standard Bank also closed the branches (DoualaDoualaDouala is the largest city in Cameroon and the capital of Cameroon's Littoral Province. Home to Cameroon's largest port and its major international airport, Douala International Airport, it is the commercial capital of the country...
and Victoria) in Cameroon that it inherited from BWA - By 1974 SBWA had only two branches, both in The Gambia, and in 1978, SBWA transferred these two branches to Standard Bank Gambia Ltd. Until 2002, by then Standard Chartered Bank Gambia remained the only bank in The Gambia.
Sources
- Baster, A.S.J. 1926/1977. The Imperial Banks. (New York: Arno Press reprint).
- Fry, Richard. 1976. Bankers in West Africa : the story of the Bank of British West Africa Limited. (London: Hutchinson).