‘Barclays has been an all-weather friend’
BARCLAYS Bank Zambia has announced that it has over the last few years arranged financing in excess of US$7 billion towards key economic sectors such as mining, energy, agriculture, manufacturing and the public sector.
According to the bank’s managing director, Ms Mizinga Melu, some of the support included the development of the agriculture sector through the Farmer Input Support Project where it was issuing more than 84, 000 e-voucher cards this farming season.
“Other key highlights includes hosting of the cassava and biofuel conference through the Ministry of Agriculture to drive the diversification agenda and partnerships with Government agencies such as ZRA for etax payments and RTSA for point of sale payments,” Ms Melu said.
She was speaking yesterday in Lusaka at a media breakfast meeting.
Ms. Melu emphasised that the bank would continue to complement Government’s efforts of diversifying the economy by supporting key sectors.
She also said the bank had continued to show a strong performance financially and as at third quatrter of 2017, the institution stood as the second largest bank in the market by assets and deposits, delivered another resilient performance coming out third on profit before tax.
“To date, we remain on course in ensuring that we deliver another sound performance during the announcement of the next financial results,” Ms. Melu said.
Ms. Melu said 2017 had been an exciting year for Barclays Zambia and that it had made strides to meet the needs of its customers and the general public through innovative banking solutions.
“You (the media) have all been very supportive and instrumental in ensuring that our story is heard throughout the country and sometimes beyond borders and for this we are thankful,” she said.