AS pressure mounts on foreign-owned banks to comply with the Indigenisation And Economic Empowerment Act, it has emerged that Ecobank Zimbabwe has complied.
Mernat Mafirakurewa Acting Business Editor
Barclays Bank, Standard Chartered, Stanbic Bank and MBCA are some of the targeted banks.
Under the Act, foreign-owned companies are required to dispose a 51% stake to locals.
Indigenisation minister Saviour Kasukuwere last Friday told delegates attending the signing ceremony of the Zimplats empowerment deal that the measure of investor confidence in the country was demonstrated by the successful partnerships government had already signed with a number of foreign companies.
“Some of the notable transactions concluded to date are Zimplats, Mimosa, Unki Mine, PPC and Blanket in the mining sector, Schweppes and BAT in the manufacturing sector, Meikles Africa in hospitality sector, Old Mutual and Ecobank Zimbabwe in the financial services sector,” said Kasukuwere.
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated group chief executive officer Thierry Tanoh was last week in the country on his first visit to the region in a development that was described as a reflection of a vote-of-confidence by the Ecobank Group in the Zimbabwean market.
The bank has pledged to continuously strive to play a prominent role in the financial integration and development of Zimbabwe through its focus and expertise in Africa.
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The bank last week announced that it had complied with the first phase of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe minimum capital requirements of $25 million.
The central bank raised the minimum capital requirements for both merchant and commercial banks to $100 million under a phased recapitalisation plan.
Ecobank Zimbabwe, which currently has 11 branches intends to expand its operations locally.
Ecobank Transnational became the major shareholder in Premier Finance Group in 2010 when it injected $10 million into the bank resulting in the acquisition of a 70% stake in the then Premier Finance.
The transnational group is listed in Lagos, Ghana and on the West African regional bourse. It has assets worth $9 billion and operates in 30 countries on the continent.
Meanwhile, Kasukurewere has vowed not to amend the country’s indigenisation law, threatening to take stern action against foreign-owned banks that were yet to comply with the equity laws.
“I would like to encourage other companies, particularly in the banking sector, to comply with our laws as non-compliance will no longer be tolerated,” said Kasukuwere.
“Uncalled-for defiance and arrogance will not be tolerated as all companies must respect the law and desist from provoking the State.
