Tue, 06 Dec 2016 13:27:24 +0000
By Sandra Machima
STANBIC Bank Zambia has been declared Global Banking and Finance Review’s ‘Best Agribusiness Bank in Zambia 2016’, following the bank’s investment of US$155 million in the local agriculture sector. The Global Banking and Finance Review awards are renowned throughout the banking industry, and were created to recognise companies that are prominent in particular areas of expertise and excellence. Stanbic Bank spokesperson Chanda Chime-Katongo said that the company’s history with agriculture goes back a long way. “We have been working for many years with players in the agriculture sector, ranging from small scale to commercial entities, and remain committed to driving growth in and moving the sector forward,” said Ms Chime-Katongo. By leveraging off regional business partners, Stanbic Bank has been successful in creating banking ecosystems around its group relationships to support customers across borders. This has allowed it to support major acquisitions of agriculture assets in Zambia in both the public and private sectors. “We strongly believe in the agriculture sector’s ability to contribute significantly to the national Gross Domestic Product, and are very keen to ensure that our farmers and supporting businesses across the different scales achieve the full potential in their value chains,” she added. By providing customer-centric banking solutions such as need-based agricultural loans, Stanbic Bank endeavours to add value over and above its normal banking solutions to clients who include farmers in major farming areas such as Mkushi, Lusaka, Mazabuka, Kabwe and Choma, as well as reaching out to other prominent and developing farming and production regions such as Mpongwe, Kitwe, Livingstone, Ndola, Chisamba and Serenje. “Stanbic has a strong agribusiness banking proposition that is knowledge-based and driven by a team of dedicated agricultural specialist bankers with real-life and relevant insights into the whole agriculture value chain. “This is something that our customers find invaluable and which we have come to appreciate over the years as an institution,” said Ms Katongo. The bank’s investment in other sectors in the country include the raising and funding in excess of US $3 billion worth of projects across the mining spectrum in Zambia from copper, cobalt, uranium and gold to lime manufacturing, and well over US$150 million and US$385 million in infrastructure development and energy respectively over a period of 18 months.
