Still rich pickings for agriculture
Eastern Cape ripe for growth and investment, says banker
THE agricultural industry in the Eastern Cape is one of many sectors rich in investment opportunities and ripe for growth. This is according to Nedbank’s dynamic new regional business manager Lonwabo Daniels, who is intent on injecting his zest for development and economic growth into the Eastern Cape region.
He believes that agriculture is still largely untapped as a sector with a high potential for solid, long-term growth in the province.
Speaking from his Newton Park office, where he has been finding his feet in his new portfolio for about a month, the sharply dressed banker expressed a passion for the province and the Bay region where he was born and now lives.
Daniels, 41, lives in Uitenhage, where he is raising his sons, aged eight and 10, along with his wife who is employed in the medical profession at a Uitenhage hospital.
Daniels cut his teeth in the banking world at Standard Bank in the Bay where he started as a teller before accruing wide experience and working his way up through the ranks.
He then moved to Nedbank, where he secured a position as an area manager for the bank’s retail division.
During 2008, Daniels was promoted to Johannesburg, where he took up the post of regional general manager, a position he held for six years before he was compelled to return to Port Elizabeth after his mother became ill.
About a month ago, Daniels was promoted to regional business head.
He is now concerned with driving new business streams for the bank, building new partnerships towards investments in social and economic development and playing a role in the development of the regional economy.
Daniels completed his MBA at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University in 2011. “That was preceded by a management programme at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business.
“I have also acquired extensive banking experience through my participation in the Global Executive Programme with Wits Business School, where I studied in London, Dubai and Uganda,” he said.
With an area of responsibility which extends from Port Elizabeth to Mthatha and the Eastern Cape/KwaZulu-Natal border, Daniels believes there is great potential for development in the province’s rural areas.
“I feel bullish and excited about my new position.
“It is an opportunity to be part of change, positive change, and it is an opportunity to be involved in the development of new partnerships and partnerships that will play roles in the development of people, business and the economy,” Daniels said.
His focus now will include proactively seeking out new investment projects that develop and empower people and communities.