admin
Business Reporter
THE main purpose of the Empower Bank is to provide financial and social solutions to the financially excluded population with greater focus on the youths, board chairperson Mr Raymond Njanike has said.
Speaking during the official opening of the Empower Bank in Bulawayo last month, Mr Njanike said the bank was actively participating in addressing the challenges of financial inclusion in the country in order to bring the previously unbanked and unrecorded micro enterprises into the mainstream economy and to capacitate and grow the businesses of young entrepreneurs for employment creation and economic growth.
“With our model, we are distinctively positioned to facilitate financial inclusion for the Zimbabwean youths by encompassing microfinance, financial advisory and support services in our products and services offering.
“These support services include but are not limited to mentoring programmes, financial education, entrepreneurial skills development, networking platforms and business training initiatives. The support services will help demystify and change the negative perception on financial credit among the youths so that they can fully realise their potential,” said Mr Njanike.
He said the bank’s vision was to be a leading financial services and solutions provider for young entrepreneurs and other Zimbabweans while its mission was to increase financial inclusion, entrepreneurial skills and access to finance for youth and micro enterprises by other Zimbabweans through providing tailored and modern ICT driven financial solutions.
Delivery channels and rollout plan
Empower Bank has embarked on an intensive branch rollout plan, which will continue with the opening of three fully-fledged branches by end of 2019 and to have a branch operational in every provincial capital by end of 2020 whilst at the same time supporting the bank’s operations with agency-banking model, which is cheaper and convenient. Other ICT driven distribution channels projects are underway to offer choices and convenience to the youth sector.
Work is already at an advanced stage on the bank’s core banking system, RTGS and Switch to enable our clients to transact directly with other institutions on the various available platforms. The agency-banking model will be the channel of choice to facilitate access to the most remote areas of the country.
Loan book
To date the bank has approved loans worth more than $1,2 million and the loan book is largely skewed in favour of agriculture given that our country is an agro-based economy and most activity is therefore within this sector. Added to that, the bank has a total value of $4,3million loan applications under evaluation. This is comprised largely of value-chain financing and other schemes.
Products and services
Currently, Empower Bank has various products and services that will increase as the bank engages with the youths and develop more products that are relevant to their unique requirements as individuals, groups, associations, clubs, cooperatives and communities. Currently the product range includes, but not limited to:
Savings Products
-EmpowerSave – Individual Savings accounts
-Chikwata – Group Savings accounts
– My Graft – Company Savings accounts
Loan Products
Empower Plus
These are loans based on one’s salary with repayments being made direct from the salary and remitted direct to Empower Bank by the employer or the client.
These loans are mainly targeting salaried individuals whose primary source of repayment is their monthly salaries. The loan facility is also available to individuals with verifiable and consistent source of income such as pensions and rentals.
Sisonke
This is a product where small groups borrow collectively, and group members encourage one another to repay. Group members collectively guarantee loan repayments, and access to subsequent loans is dependent on successful repayment by all group members.
Thuthuka
This loan is for farmers in the rural areas as well as small to medium informal business enterprises such as vendors, flea market traders, grinding mill operators, cross border traders who require working capital to grow their businesses and the loan repayments are matched to the cash flow generating capacity of the enterprise.
Smart movers
Loans are available to formal small to medium enterprises such as companies, partnerships, joint ventures among others.
Leasing finance
Micro lease financing enables clients to acquire equipment or business assets on credit be it movable or immovable needed to run or grow the business.
Order financing
This is a funding option for businesses/individuals that need cash/finance to meet a single or multiple customers’ orders. The financing will involve Empower Bank paying the supplier of the applying company, for goods that have been ordered to fulfil a job for a customer. Empower Bank will collect their funds from the end customer
Rimawo/Asilime financing
Empower Bank will be working in value chain financing providing finance to buy inputs, technical assistance during the production process, market linkages with buyers and collection of payments for the produce. The value chain financing is provided at much lower interest rates. Empower Bank will work with partners to provide:
-Finance for inputs
-Training and extension services (in some instances at a fee)
– Transport and logistics
– Market linkages
Mupedza Nhamo
Payday /Salary Based short term loan to cover for your daily requirements before your next payday.
For the next five years the bank’s strategy focus is to grow into a leading financial services and solutions provider for young entrepreneurs by 2023. And to achieve this going forward, the bank’s focus will be on the following key areas:
– Innovating solutions and services that will bring convenience and accessibility of financial products and services to the youth sector,
– Resource mobilisation to further capitalise the Deposit-Taking Micro Finance Institution and facilitate the graduating of the MFI into a fully fledge Development Financial Institution (DFI). This will allow the bank to offer a wider and more affordable financial services and invest in advanced ICT infrastructure to continuously enhance our deliver channels and products
-Good governance to ensure that the fund keeps revolving for business continuity and compliance with Regulatory authorities’ statutes.
Mr Njanike told youths in Matabeleland that Empower Bank was looking forward to working with them to access banking services so that they have a better future.
He urged them to feel free to visit the bank and engage with team members on the various products that are on offer.
Online Reporter