Doug Munatsi, CEO of BancABC, a commercial bank based in Botswana that also provides microfinance services, recently expressed his confidence about the economy of Zimbabwe at a meeting in Gaborone, where the bank’s interim financial results were released.
“Zimbabwe is showing much better signs of profitability,” said Mr Munatsi.
Mr Munatsi is particularly interested in providing microfinance services to civil servants in the country. He stated that, “once they [salaries of civil servants] hit USD 400, we think microfinance should be possible in Zimbabwe.” According to an earlier story published on MicroCapital on April 13, 2010, civil servants in Zimbabwe earn between USD 122 and USD 206 per month [2]. It is unclear if the loans Mr Munatsi is referring to offering in Zimbabwe would be intended to fund microenterprises or consumption.
BancABC operates in six African countries, but currently does not report data to the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX), the microfinance information clearinghouse.
About BancABC:
BancABC is a Botswana-based bank, formed through the 1997 merger of First Merchant Bank and Heritage Investment Bank. It operates in five other southern African countries and has a total loan portfolio of USD 320 million as of June 2009. In the microfinance sphere, BancABC has 40,000 micro borrowers in Zambia in addition to its existing commercial loans. The corporation does not report to the MIX Market, the microfinance information clearinghouse.
By Trevor Kwong, Research Assistant
Sources and Additional Resources:
[1] Source Article: The Botswana Business Diary: Microfinance for Civil Servants in the Pipeline:
http://www.thebusinessdiary.co.bw/?p=1143
[2] MicroCapital: MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BancABC Postpones Plans to Extend Microfinance Operations to Zimbabwe
[3] MicroCapital Universe: BancABC:
https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=bancabc
Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to our wiki at https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/
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