In December 2013 we (Peter Wamicwe and John Maingi, BCOM 4^th year alumni 2013) were selected following a nationwide process to join one of the most sought after Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB) graduate programs in Africa organised by Standard Bank. The program required us to travel to South Africa in February and March for the global induction program where we were trained together with other graduates from Nigeria and South Africa. There were only 3 Kenyans chosen to be in the program for 2013 and 2 out of the 3 were from Strathmore University!

Some Strathmore Excellence……

Having performed very well in the induction training, the two of us were given an opportunity to spend an afternoon with the Global Head of Corporate Investment Banking , Mr. David Munro at his residence in South Africa. There, we met other members of the executive team who shared their experiences with us.  

All these would have been possible were it not for the strong partnership between Standard bank and Strathmore’s Careers office. We are grateful for the efforts the university is doing in helping us develop our careers and we would urge all students to pay a visit to the careers office soon. And if you are interested in finance I would urge you to apply for this graduate program through the career office for a chance to ply your finance trade at the top.

Some background on Standard Bank

Standard Bank is  Africa’s  top bank in the annual ranking of the top 1,000 banks globally – Standard bank ranked 112 in the year 2012 and it was the only African bank in top 120, Africa’s largest lender and biggest by assets which stood as at 2012 to the tune of USD183billion.

Back home in Kenya Standard Bank operates under its subsidiary known as CFC Stanbic Bank. The bank is the fastest growing bank and the best bank when it comes to corporate and investment banking. To echo on this point, the bank has been able to win several awards such as:

1. Bond Deal of the Year,
2. Investment Bank of the Year,
3. Best Lead Transaction Advisor

About the graduate program

Whilst many corporate or investment banking graduate schemes force you to choose a role and specialist area before you begin your training, the CIB programme is built on a different philosophy altogether. The bank believes in showing you the full scope of our business and opportunities before asking you to choose where you could make the biggest difference .In the program one will rotate through the following areas:

1. Transactional product and services-which primarily looks at provision of working capital (less than a year) for various firms and institutions.
2. Global Markets-which looks at Foreign Exchange, equities trading, derivatives and exotic products etc.
3. Investment Banking-focuses on advisory, securitization, syndication ,structured trade and finance among other

What’s different about the program

The program offers 3 key things to graduates:

1. Exposure– From the first day one gets to meet clients (both local and international) .
2. Excellence-being the best bank in this segment, excellence is a must and this is imparted to you from the first minute one arrives at the bank.
3. Experience-there is a wealth of material to learn from bankers who have been in the business for decades. 

 

Article by Peter and John from South Africa.