NDAMU SANDU IN LOMÉ, TOGO
Ecobank group says it is in Zimbabwe for the long haul and has nowhere to run to outside Africa in a vote of confidence for the southern African country which requires international banks to unlock lines of credit required to reboot the economy.
“We are here to stay. We are here to develop, to find innovative solutions to our problems but we are in Zimbabwe for good,” CEO Ade Ayeyemi (pictured) said this week.
The announcement by the pan African banking group comes after British bank, Standard Chartered PLC (StanChart) said in April that it was exiting seven markets including Zimbabwe as it redirects its resources within the Africa and Middle East region to where it has the greatest scale.
The bank, which has been operating in Zimbabwe for 130 years, is leaving despite earlier insistence that it was here to stay.
“We are not going anywhere. You can’t even push us out because we believe that we all have that responsibility and we participate because it is our continent, it is our land,” Ayeyemi said in an interview on the sidelines of the Africa Financial Industry Summit 2022 in Lomé, Togo.
Another British bank, Barclays, left the Zimbabwean market five years ago after selling its stake to FMB capital Group.
Ayeyemi said the group’s home is Africa and has demonstrated that commitment over time.
“Barclays can go to the UK. StanChart can go to the UK, we have no other place to run to. So it is our responsibility to walk with the people in Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Zambia, Kenya, Nigeria and West Africa [among others] to make this continent a much better place and attractive to all,” said the banker who is retiring from the pan African banking group next year having served the institution since 2015.
Ayeyemi said the banking group’s responsibility is that “all of us have a stake in the future of the continent from ourselves as well as yourselves and every other person that has that opportunity to contribute”.
He however could not be drawn into commenting on his future plans.
“You can’t ask me a question in the same breath as you would ask someone from the UK or the US. I take exception to being told you are not from this part of this world,” he told Business Times when asked about the group’s plan when international banks are leaving Zimbabwe.
Ecobank entered the Zimbabwean market in 2011 after buying the then Premier Finance Group.
Ecobank Zimbabwe has cemented its place as one of the best institutions in trade finance, international payments and funding.
“If you talk to the corporate banking people in Zimbabwe, if you talk to the government of Zimbabwe and if you talk to the people that trade across Zimbabwe to all the other neighbours, they will tell you the work that we do,” Ayeyemi said.
The banking group’s strength is in trade finance. Ecobank Zimbabwe has scooped a number of awards in those categories taking a cue from its parent.
Ayeyemi said trade finance is key for the growth of African economies.
“When people trade, they don’t fight. Whoever is financing trade is creating stability. Whoever is financing trade is creating economic opportunities for people in the country and from there we go forward. Zimbabwe has a lot of resources, a lot of minerals that it exports to the rest of the world. So whoever is supporting that facilitation of trade is doing very well for the continent,” he said.
The southern African country goes to the polls next year pitting veteran politician and incumbent President Emmerson Mnangagwa against Nelson Chamisa who leads CCC.
Since 2000, the run up to the elections has always created uncertainty for business as they adopt a wait and see attitude.
However, Ayeyemi is unnerved.
“I am very clear and know who the winner is. It will be a Zimbabwean. Once it is a Zimbabwean, I am fine,” he said.
Ecobank has a presence in 35 African countries, with a banking license in Paris and international offices in London, Dubai and Beijing.
