Tinashe Makichi
HARARE – Nedbank Zimbabwe, a unit of South Africa’s Nedbank group, has started re-modelling its operations towards registering presence in mining cities around the country after securing lines of credit with AfreximBank for lending to mining and other economic sectors.
The financial services firm, formerly MBCA Bank, is placing priority on adding value to African mining companies through the provision of expert advisory services delivered by experienced teams based in London and Johannesburg.
NedGroup Investment Africa holds 67.48 percent shareholding in Nedbank Zimbabwe, while Old Mutual Zimbabwe is the second largest shareholder with a 20.9 percent stake.
The financial institution wants to become one of the top tier banks in the country, and this will be driven through funding the private sector and the emerging small to medium enterprises sector.
Nedbank Zimbabwe chief executive Dr Charity Jinya told the Business Times that the mining sector carried a lot of opportunities for the financial services sector.
“We are in Zvishavane, Kwekwe, Gweru and Mutare,” she said. “We have put our branches in line with the economic pulls of the country.
“We want to be at the forefront of securing lines of credit for private sector funding as we seek to play a leading role in the country’s economic development. We only have 11 branches but we want them to be strategically positioned,” said Dr Jinya.
She said Nedbank Zimbabwe still had an existing $75 million commodities line of credit which has not been fully exhausted.
Dr Jinya said Nedbank Zimbabwe also had a credit line with AfreximBank and there were plans to grow that line, especially under Zimbabwe’s new dispensation, where the bank might benefit on lowering the cost of funds.
“With the elections coming, the environment will be determined by the election outcome but we are already seeing some foreign business delegations visiting the country,” Dr Jinya said, adding that infrastructure development had become one of the major focus areas for the bank as the change in government has brought opportunities in the sector.
According to the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ), the country requires at least $26 billion over 10 years to address its infrastructural deficits and become competitive for investment. Luckily for financial institutions, the infrastructural deficits present an opportunity to play a crucial role in the economy by funding infrastructural projects.
According to Dr Jinya: “Infrastructure is more interesting. It requires long term funding which is closely linked with the prevailing environment in the country. As foreign delegations are coming and exploring opportunities, getting lines of credit will be easy.”
