Earlier this week, investment firm Motive Partners announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with South African-based bank Standard Bank. Under the partnership, Standard Bank will become a member of Motive Partners’ Motive Labs, an alliance of financial institutions aimed at identifying investment opportunities. This collaboration will help Standard Bank achieve its goals of innovation, long-term growth and value creation.
Motive Labs was formed with the aim of becoming a catalyst for innovation and value creation as well as a support for its alliance partners in the arena of fintech investment. Its founding strategic partners include Royal Bank of Scotland, Allied Irish Bank, Mastercard, Emirates NBD and Bradesco. By entering into a strategic partnership with Motive Partners, Standard Bank becomes the newest member of Motive Labs’ alliance.
The innovation model that Motive Labs follows emphasizes collaboration with its partners in order to join leading financial services institutions with technology start-ups. The ultimate goal is to discover new and novel ways to service customers, improve scale and efficiency, keep up with regulatory changes and grow business lines.
For Motive Labs, the inclusion of Standard Bank in their membership will help to open up an important region: Africa. The Johannesburg-based bank has offices in 20 countries across the continent, having established itself as Africa’s largest bank. Given the projected increase in Africa’s population combined with major advancements in infrastructure, education and health over the next decade, the continent is poised to be an economic powerhouse in coming years.
The UK Trade Policy Minister George Hollingbery praised the partnership, stating that “following the Prime Minister’s trade mission to Africa last summer, it is hugely positive to see new ambitious deals such as that announced today between Motive Partners and Standard Bank. The UK already has substantial trade and investment ties across Africa, with trade between the UK and the continent worth more than £30 billion last year alone, but there is even more potential for other UK businesses to make the most of the rapidly growing opportunities in Africa.”
Motive Labs CEO Alberto Corvo was equally enthusiastic, remarking that “I am delighted to welcome Standard Bank in to our ecosystem. It is an honour to partner with the continent's leading financial institution and our team are extremely excited to begin working together on a number of identified opportunities. We could not have asked for a better partner in Africa.”
