Mobile banking changing the world - Ecobank
By Gift Chanda
Fri 14 Sep. 2012, 10:28 CAT
ECOBANK sees mobile banking is a tool for boosting access levels to basic banking services in the country, a senior official said yesterday.
Lauzi Mwamba, Ecobank Zambia head of mobile banking, said the increased rate of mobile phone penetration together with the bank's focus on mobile banking is expected to drive the growth in the country's financial sector.
Zambia's mobile user penetration has been on an increase with an estimated 8.2 million subscribers on the mobile phone grid.
Mwamba told delegates at the ongoing Celpay Zambia fourth annual conference in Lusaka yesterday of the importance of focusing on mobile banking to augment efforts aimed at getting more people to access financial services in the country.
She said because the use of mobile banking allows customers at the bottom end of the pyramid to have access to basic banking services through the mobile phone, more local people are expected to have access to basic financial services.
Mwamba observed that mobile penetration has far exceeded banking penetration and therefore the introduction of mobile banking allows more people to have access to basic banking.
"The mobile revolution is here and is changing the world," she said.
"It is up to us to embrace it and explore its many offerings to create the growth we are all looking for."
Mwamba said for Ecobank, mobile banking is clearly seen as the most efficient model for driving banking transactions and scaling them to millions of customers rapidly.
"The unbanked customers are seen as the key demand driver for Ecobank Mobile," added Mwamba.
"...because mobile banking is an affordable and reliable means of providing access to financial services to the unbanked in the urban as well as the rural areas of Zambia."
Earlier, Celpay international group chief executive officer Lazarous Muchenje said mobile banking has propelled significant changes in the financial sector globally.
He said at least 600 mobile payment platforms have sprawled over the last decade but only 10 per cent of those have been successful, especially in developing countries.
Celpay, which had been operating locally as Celpay Zambia Limited for the past 10 years, had handled close to US$2 billion worth of transactions.
The firm with other operations in Zimbabwe, Uganda, the UK and the Democratic Republic of Congo plans to invest US$10 million over the next five years to expand its operations in southern Africa.
Labels: ECOBANK, ICT, MOBILE PHONES
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Ecobank, Exim to promote Africa-India investment
By Gift Chanda
Wed 27 June 2012, 13:25 CAT
ECOBANK Group has partnered with the Export-Import Bank to promote and finance trade investment flows between Africa and India. Under the partnership, the Export-Import Bank of India will work with Ecobank to explore joint trade and investment opportunities across Ecobank Group's unrivalled footprint of 32 countries in Middle Africa.
Commenting on the partnership, Arnold Ekpe, Ecobank Group's chief executive officer, said the institution was looking forward to working very closely with the Export-Import Bank to facilitate the growing trade and investment flows between Africa and India.
India's trade with Africa has doubled over the past four years to over US$50 billion, with the Indian government setting a 2015 bilateral trade target of US $90 billion.
The trade increase has been accompanied by stronger investment ties, with Indian investments in Africa totalling US$2.4 billion in 2008.
Labels: ECOBANK, EXIM BANK, INDIA
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3 banks regularise capital levels
Saturday, 06 August 2011 02:00
Business Editor
THREE of the six banks that were undercapitalised have since regularised their capital levels as it emerged yesterday that Genesis Bank had been sold to a new consortium while Ecobank shareholders had injected more funds into the bank.
Reserve Bank Governor Dr Gideon Gono will meet Kingdom Bank next week "to receive the positive news emanating from their recapitalisation initiatives".
In a statement yesterday, the governor said the central bank was satisfied with progress made and would continue to closely monitor all undercapitalised banking institutions. Ecobank made an injection of US$2,2 million on Wednesday, taking its capital position to US$13,8 million against the prescribed minimum of US$10 million for merchant banks.
The new owners at Genesis had made an undertaking to recapitalise the bank within three months once regulatory approvals have been secured.
ZABG and Royal Bank were given up to September next year to regularise their capital while Renaissance Merchant Bank is under curatorship.
"Stakeholders are hereby assured that the Reserve Bank remains vigilant in monitoring all forms of banking vulnerabilities arising from endogenous and exogenous sources of risk. The bank will continue to refine its supervision methodologies and techniques in line with international best practice, and lessons learnt from the recent global financial crisis," said Dr Gono.
Yesterday, the RBZ chief also announced that the ratio of non-performing loans (NPLs) to total loans in the banking sector was 5,8 percent, and not the 37 percent stated in the Mid-Term Fiscal Policy Review announced recently.
This had also been reported in the Sunday Mail issue of July 31. The ratio of non-performing loans had been averaging below 5 percent since March 2010.
Furthermore, the IMF Article IV Consultation report also confirmed that the ratio remained below 5 percent as at March 31 2011.
"Thus the ratio of 37 percent quoted both in the Sunday Mail and the Mid-Term Fiscal Policy Review is not a true reflection of the status of asset quality in the banking sector," said Dr Gono.
"Inspite of the prevailing liquidity challenges affecting the entire economy, the status of asset quality in the banking sector, as measured by the average non-performing loans, is not of systemic concern to the supervisory authorities."
The Mid-Term Monetary Policy Statement stated that the central bank had, in liaison with the IMF, enhanced its Troubled and Insolvent Banks Policy which dealt with the status of asset quality in the banking sector, among other issues.
The central bank would have to take mandatory corrective action programmes if asset quality was in breach of prescribed thresholds.
Labels: BANKING, ECOBANK, GIDEON GONO
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NHA loses K3.5 billion plunder proceeds
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Wed 25 Aug. 2010, 04:01 CAT
ABOUT K3.5 billion raised from the sale of properties seized by Task Force on Corruption has been swallowed by Ecobank after National Housing Authority (NHA) used it as collateral to obtain a K8.5 billion overdraft, highly placed sources have revealed.
But NHA chief executive officer Elias Mpondela has disputed the allegations, arguing that the money from the proceeds of the seized property was still intact and could be made available at the call of government.
NHA was appointed as custodians of the K3.5 billion and the money was to be used for among other activities, construction of some maternity wards in the country.
According to highly placed sources, NHA, the custodian of the K3.5 billion Task Force on Corruption money, used the money as security for K8.5 billion overdraft it got from Ecobank.
“Ever since Mr Mpondela came in a year ago, NHA has been borrowing from Ecobank using the K3.5 billion from Task Force on Corruption which is in its custody as security,” the sources explained.
“So, what happened was that when Ecobank realised that National Housing had borrowed way beyond the K3 billion plus which was the overdraft security, they called the security and that is how that money was swallowed.”
The sources said it was not clear how NHA spent the K8.5 billion it borrowed from Ecobank as most of projects it engages in are pre-financed by the final beneficiaries.
“You know Mr Mpondela has just been going to the bank getting overdrafts even when it is not very clear what these monies were used for because most of the operations of National Housing are always paid for upfront or down payment of 60 percent is paid,” the sources explained.
But in an interview, Mpondela said the K3.5 billion Task Force money was still intact and that it had not been swallowed by Ecobank. He, however, admitted that NHA had a K8.5 billion exposure to Ecobank which had been converted into a loan from an overdraft.
He said the total security which included the building housing NHA headquarters was by far higher than the collateral security used to get the overdraft.
“That money from Task Force is still there and if the government called for it, we would make it available immediately,” Mpondela said.
When asked to explain how the overdraft money was used, Mpondela - who jointly gave the interview with director of finance and operations Ernest Chanda - explained that the over draft from the bank was used for “operations” of NHA.
“We do get overdrafts for our operations to cover for things like paying contractors, salaries; basically operations for which we might need short-term financing,” he said.
Mpondela said NHA decided to convert the K8.5 billion overdraft of repayment period of one year into a loan with a repayment period of two years to cut down on repayment interest.
“What we basically told them Ecobank is that we can’t continue paying high interest rates on the overdraft when they were keeping our money and that was how we negotiated to convert the overdraft into a loan so that we could save the Zambian people money,” said Mpondela.
“There is nothing sinister and we are a public institution and we have nothing to hide.”
Mpondela said NHA was owed K9 billion from local buyers who had not fully settled their payments in full.
Labels: CORRUPTION, ECOBANK, ELIAS MPONDELA, NHA
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‘C/belt Province has only one dialysis machine’
By Misheck Wangwe in Kitwe
Sun 27 June 2010, 03:00 CAT
LOTTERY Club of Kitwe north president Moshin Chakera has said it is a shame that the Copperbelt Province has only one dialysis machine for patients with kidney complications. And Chakera has disclosed that the club has embarked on a venture to raise about US $36,000 for the purchase of a dialysis machine for Kitwe Central Hospital.
Speaking during his induction as Lottery Club of Kitwe North district 9210 president, Chakera said there was need for cooperating partners to join hands with the Lottery Club in raising funds for purchase of the dialysis machine for Kitwe Central Hospital.
He said it was sad to note that more than 2,000 patients with kidney complications and other related diseases were struggling to have access to the only dialysis machine at Konkola Copper Mine (KCM) Mine Hospital in Chililabomwbe.
“We believe that a journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. As Lottery Club of Kitwe North we have prioritised the need to purchase the dialysis machine for our brothers and sisters with kidney problems. It is a shame that the whole Copperbelt has one dialysis machine at KCM Mine Hospital and a lot of people are suffering because some don’t have access to that machine. We need to work together to purchase this critical machine,” Chakera said.
And speaking earlier Lottery Club of Kitwe North past president Clement Tafeni said the future of Lottery Club was in the hands of the people hence the need for the community to come together in supporting various community programmmes that the club had embarked on.
He said Lottery Club members had endeavored to mobilise resources towards the needy in society. And Ecobank Zambia managing director Charity Lumpa noted the various projects the Lottery Club had carried out over the years.
She said Ecobank realises that corporate entities should collaborate with the government and charity organisations by taking an active role in the development of the communities.
Labels: CHARITY LUMPA, COPPERBELT PROVINCE, ECOBANK, HEALTHCARE, LOTTERY CLUB OF KITWE, MOSHIN CHAKERA
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Ecobank, FNB to open branches in Zambia
Written by Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Thursday, January 01, 2009 8:06:03 AM
ECOBANK Plc and South African-basedFirst National Bank (FNB) are set to open a branch in Zambia. First National Bank has already been issued with a licence by the Bank of Zambia (BoZ).
According to market sources, Ecobank Plc, a pan African bank, had decided to open branch franchise in the country and that recruitment of staff had commenced.
And the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) could neither deny nor confirm the coming of Ecobank to the Zambian market.
“It is still in the initial stages, nothing concrete or firm. Until then, I can’t speak about it nor confirm,” stated ZDA communications manager Margaret Chimanse when asked on the expected coming establishment of Ecobank in Zambia.
And BoZ governor Dr Caleb Fundaga disclosed that the Central Bank had issued South Africa’s retail bank FNB a licence to open branches in Zambia, after Nigeria’s Access Bank which started its operations this year.
“It’s a good thing that FNB is coming because it is a very big and credible bank. They are coming with more than the required initial capital (K12 billion, approximately US $2.43 million),” said Dr Fundanga.
And Zambia is next year expected to get credit rating after the 2009 budget as the country’s financial advisors J. P. Morgan had already done the bulk of work required for the credit rating. This means that foreign investors will then understand and appreciate the actual levels of risk associated with the cost of doing business in the country.
Labels: BANKING, ECOBANK, FIRST NATIONAL BANK
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