Barclays Managing Director Mizinga Melu advised banks to focus on how to provide financial services the digital way. This was during the first davos type panel discussion of the Economics Association of Zambia debut summit themed The Future of Economic Diplomacy – Achieving Inclusive Growth and Sustainable Development.
Mrs Melu shared with the audience what role Barclays is playing in the SME sector. Barclays is offering two products called Kongola on the borrowing side and Kasaka on the saving side.
“We have harnessed 1 million users who are unbanked through using partnerships with the mobile service providers. Dial *229# and access this service,” she said.
“We as Barclays don’t just look at SMEs only but view forward linkages such as understanding who their corporate partners are, who their suppliers are to allow us to navigate some of the asymmetries they face,” Mrs. Melu said.
“We have waived the need for audited financials for SMEs because it is costly for them. Further we are looking to ease the collateral requirement and use other means to enable us have security when we extend credit,” she said.
Mrs. Melu shared a stage with her industry peers namely Henk Mulder from Zanaco bank MD, Dr. Caleb Fundanga the Stanchart Board Chairman, Stanbic Banks Global Markets Head Victor Chileshe and Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet Christopher Mvunga. The session was chaired by Bank of Zambia Deputy governor Operations Dr. Francis Chipimo.
