Bank of British West Africa xx Bank of West Africa xx Standard Bank of West Africa

Bank of British West Africa xx Bank of West Africa xx Standard Bank of West Africa

The Bank of British West Africa Ltd (BBWA) was registered as a limited liability company in March 1894. The Head Office was in Castle Street, Liverpool until 1910, 17 Leadenhall Street from 1910-22 and 37 Gracechurch Street thereafter. There had been a British bank in West Africa since 1891, run by the African Banking Corporation and then by Elder Dempster and Co, which was known from 1893 as the Bank of British West Africa. The Crown Agents for West Africa, however, were not prepared to let a private bank import silver or act as Government banker and their pressure resulted in the Bank's registration as a limited liability company.

Branches were set up first in Nigeria, then Sierra Leone, Ghana (Gold Coast) and the Gambia. Often agencies were established and run for a few years to ascertain the amount of business before the Bank committed itself to setting up a branch. In this way, BBWA expanded its remit with branches at Hamburg, Fernando Po (part of Equatorial Guinea) and the Canary Islands and in Morocco, Egypt and Cameroon. A New York agency was operated by Standard Bank of South Africa on BBWA's behalf.

In 1912 the Bank of British West Africa took over the business of the Bank of Nigeria, an early rival. (The records of the Bank of Nigeria prior to the take-over are listed separately as Mss 24523-4 [CLC/B/207-03]). The Bank's name changed in 1957 to Bank of West Africa Ltd because the old name evoked a colonial relationship which did not reflect the emergence of independent West African states. BBWA merged with Standard Bank of South Africa in 1966, resulting in another name: Standard Bank of West Africa. In 1969-71 separate companies were incorporated as Standard Bank of Nigeria, Standard Bank of Ghana and Standard Bank of Sierra Leone. The business of the Bank of West Africa in the UK was transferred to Standard Bank in 1973 and the branches in Cameroon were closed in 1974. Standard Bank of West Africa Limited continued with two branches in Gambia until 1978 when it was taken over by Standard Bank of the Gambia.

Geographical range: Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Cameroon and Canary Islands.