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FINANCIAL services institution, Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe last year assisted more than 600 individuals and corporates acquire residential and commercial properties.
The bank’s head of home loans, Mr Bryan Mombechena said the bank was determined to do more in line with its quest to drive the growth of Africa and Zimbabwe’s growth despite the prevailing harsh economic environment.
The solutions on offer include ZWL and USD loan facilities covering both local clients and Zimbabweans in the diaspora.
“From 2021 to date we have assisted over 600 customers achieve their dream in both residential and commercial property.
We feel motivated to stretch ourselves to do more.
We are committed to ensure that clients have the four walls – a roof over their heads,” he said.
He said the bank wanted to assist companies to save on rent by investing in their own properties.
Mr Mombechena said assisting clients to buy or build their own properties was a positive development and the bank was committed to provide more resources for this programme.
He said the major highlight for the property division to date was the strong performance for 2021 in terms of asset budget.
“Performance for 2022 is upbeat.
Additionally, 2022 is exciting for the team as we are entrenching partnerships to make sure our client’s expectations are exceeded,” he said.
He added that the performance so far this year has been satisfactory with room to improve.
“We have had solid performance in terms of asset class, growth and the right solutions for our clients.”
Mr Mombechena said Stanbic Bank was committed to driving Africa’s growth in line with its parent company, Standard Bank Group’s thrust,
“Africa is our Home, we drive her growth.
The future is exciting for the bank and the team.
We have identified the needs of Africa and Zimbabwe and we have the capacity to provide solutions for this,” he said.
Mr Mombechena said Africa’s population is young and has potential and in this regard, infrastructure is key for development of Africa and this will unlock exciting opportunities for the bank.
He however said the bank was not spared by the effects of Covid-19, which disrupted ways of doing business and influenced turnaround times as some team members and partners were affected.
“The real estate market is sensitive to policy changes in the market.
Listing prices reflect how the suppliers of real estate read the market and policy direction,” said Mr Mombechena.
He said the performance of the economy and policy direction has affected capacity to deliver on the objectives of the department and real estate players in general.
“The department, however, responds to this in a positive way by developing new solution lines like diaspora mortgages, USD mortgages for targeted clients in the market.
“The solution lines include outright purchase, building finance, property improvements and equity release,” said Mr Mombechena.
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