Hype gripped the Absa Zambia team the week beginning the 09 February not because it was valentines week but for the legal metamorphosis of a banking legal persona that changed names from ‘Barclays Zambia PLC to Absa Zambia PLC’. The zenith of the hype was on 10 February when Absa staff across Africa (Zambia inclusive) were clad in a dosage of red marking a new era of Africanacity. Absa finally moved on post the divorce with Barclays Group after the latter divested interests in emerging markets.
In an interview on state television Absa Zambia Managing Director Mizinga Melu said Absa is really about bringing possibilities to life and that the red depicts the braveness in tapping opportunity in Africa.
Read also: From Barclays to ‘ABSA Zambia Plc’, legal metamorphosis completes next month
The Absa Zambia operation remains one of the most profitable units on the continent and has continued to defy the odds proving that opportunity does reside in Africa which the Barclays Group struggled to believe.
Absa Zambia hosted a launch function graced by Her honor the Vice President Inonge Wina on 13 February at which the bank invited its top clients. Seeing the Absa Regional Office Deputy Chief Executive Peter Matlare and Zambia operations Managing Director Mizinga Melu pose for a picture with MTN Chief Executive Officer Bart Hofker and Chief Fintech Officer Komba Malukutila reminded the Kwacha Arbitrageur of the digital integration between Absa bank and Zambia leading mobile network operator MTN to promote not only financial inclusion but allow for more convenient banking through Mobile Money (MoMo) platforms.
As part of digitization efforts to reach areas where brick and motor is impossible, Absa bank has leveraged off MTNs presence in the remotest part of the country to allow transact-ability that has made banking possible even in the absence of an actual bank. Zambia’s central bank has been deliberate about financial inclusion which both Absa and MTN have been key partners of.
Absa Zambia is forecast to be one of the top two banks in Africa’s red metal producer on course to post after tax earnings of a billion Kwacha in half a decade. The bank was outstanding in its income lines in 2019 with an aggressive credit book growth.
The Kwacha Arbitrageur