From BDLive

Pan-African banking group Ecobank, whose largest investors include the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) and Nedbank, will tap into the diverse resource base of its widespread continental operations to mobilize finance instruments for its Zimbabwe unit, which is seeking a bigger role in the country’s struggling economy.

“The bank will continue to position itself to play a bigger role in facilitating the country’s growing trade links with the East, as well as within Southern Africa, through innovative trade and commodity finance solutions,” Ecobank Zimbabwe MD Daniel Sackey said.

The Zimbabwe unit of Ecobank had significantly raised its profit before tax position, from $750,000 in 2012 to $2.4m by the end of December last year. It beat a marked slowdown in the economy and investor apprehension after President Robert Mugabe’s victory in last year’s July elections.

Now, executives at Ecobank Zimbabwe want to use the financial resources the group has from its continental operations to lend in the Zimbabwean market. This is expected to increase interest income.

Mr Sackey said this strategy would rest on support tapped from the group’s operations in the 35 countries that the Ecobank group operates in. “Access to lines of credit and development of specialized expertize will underpin this strategy,” said Sackey.

In the year to the end of December, Ecobank benefited from credit lines worth $50.5m “made available by the Ecobank group and $4.7m from third-party foreign banks”, said David Whatman, the group’s chairman in Zimbabwe.

Written by Tawanda Karombo/Read more at BDLive