Patrick Mweheire, Standard Bank Group’s Regional Chief Executive for East Africa said the bank is delighted to welcome Mumba to the Standard Bank Group—in particular, to the Stanbic Bank Uganda team. “His extensive experience in the banking sector and understanding of this market, coupled with his leadership expertise, makes him ideal to lead our business in Uganda,” he said. “The Board is confident that his strategic thinking, business acumen, and passion for excellence will continue to drive growth, innovation, and customer satisfaction.”

Mumba brings to the team nearly 30 years of post-qualification experience, 20 of which have been in the banking sector, mostly in senior leadership roles covering business development, risk management, strategy formulation, and finance strategy in three African markets including Botswana, Zambia, and for the last five years—Uganda.

“I am pleased with the opportunity to embark on this new challenge,” said Mumba. “Together with the other leaders across the organization, I am looking forward to building on the bank’s solid foundation and contributing to the purpose of driving Uganda’s growth, creating even more shared value for all stakeholders.”

Damoni Kitabire, Board Chairman, Stanbic Bank Uganda said the bank has enjoyed a strong growth journey in recent years and they are confident that under Mumba’s leadership, the bank will continue to experience even more success as they execute their commitment to drive Uganda’s growth.

Mumba holds a master’s degree in business administration (MBA) from Herriot Watt University (Scotland) and is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (United Kingdom) and the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA, UK).

The post Mumba Kenneth Kalifungwa Appointed as New CEO of Stanbic Bank Uganda appeared first on PC Tech Magazine.

An unprecedented first in Africa, the syndication, valued at a total of $202 million ($165M in Kenya and $37m in Uganda), included seven lenders and is the largest syndicated facility in the fintech sector in Africa and the largest syndicated sustainable finance facility in East Africa.

Nick Riley, the Corporate Financing Solutions at Standard Bank Group said as the mandated lead arranger and largest funder to the syndication, Standard Bank was the only commercial bank able to bring together all the funders in a structure of this nature, something “they are very proud of”.

Anneke Lunde, the Executive of Sustainable Finance at Standard Bank Corporate and Investment Banking noted that supporting M-KOPA is in line with their purpose of driving sustainable growth for Africa and her people. She applauded M-KOPA for managing to positively impact so many lives by enabling access to solar-powered systems and smartphone connectivity, which are a vital part of enabling the economic empowerment of all.

As a Fintech business that has achieved significant scale, M-KOPA demonstrates the African continent’s young, critical, and vibrant population’s economic potential that makes for an attractive prospect for foreign investors.

“Africa has significant economic potential, especially for foreign investors, which is why we remain committed to working with M-KOPA as it improves financial inclusion across the continent for millions of Africans who struggle to access credit,” said Riley.

For a business like M-KOPA to expand geographically, they require a reliable mechanism to raise funding in multiple currencies. Standard Bank’s ability to structure and arrange solutions that cater to several currencies means M-KOPA is well-equipped to hedge the risk of foreign exchange in its funding structure.

Although the last decade has seen M-KOPA grow impressively, they have ambitions to reach a target of over 10 million customers over the next few years, as well as expand further into various African markets. This ambition calls for a considered effort to ensure sustainable growth over the coming years. Standard Bank supports these ambitions by incentivizing M-KOPA to reach its environmental and social goals by embedding a series of Environmental, Social, and Green key performance indicators within the funding structure, spanning from gender equality to sustainability.

M-KOPA CEO and Co-Founder, Jesse Moore said, “Not only does Standard Bank Group provide an innovative and bespoke approach to our financing needs, but their knowledge and understanding of the African continent also enable us to achieve our ambitions.”

Moore emphasized that the bank remains an important partner in their growth journey and is supportive of their aspirations to ensure that Africa continues to grow and ultimately thrive.

Regarded as a pioneering and leading fintech platform in Africa, M-KOPA’s solutions provide underbanked customers with instant access to everyday products and services via its flexible credit model.

M-KOPA’s customers are able to acquire a broad range of productive assets such as high-quality smartphones, solar-powered systems, electric motorbikes as well as digital financial services, which include cash loans and health insurance, all accessed through digital micropayments, in East and West Africa, thereby stimulating financial access and inclusion.

ALSO READ: M-KOPA, MTN AVAIL SMARTPHONES THAT CAN BE BOUGHT IN INSTALLMENTS

Since its inception in 2011, M-KOPA has provided over $1 billion in credit to more than 3 million customers, thereby avoiding 2.2 million tonnes of carbon emissions through clean energy products and allowing almost 2 million individuals to access high-quality smartphones, positively impacting over 5.5 million lives on the continent.

The post Standard Bank Backs M-KOPA’s Growth in Kenya, Uganda With Sustainable Facilities appeared first on PC Tech Magazine.

“As the first African bank to have joined this network, this presents us with many opportunities, including being able to show African trade risk to international banks that are members of CCRM, and is aligned with our desire to connect Africa to the world,” Vinod Madhavan; Group Head of Trade for Standard Bank, said in a press statement.

“Africa is a major trade partner for countries all over and trade finance has played an important role in promoting African imports and exports for many decades.  We are confident that CCRManager will help Standard Bank with its trade finance for its clients,” Kah Chye Tan; Chairman at CCRManager said in a press statement.

Users of CCRManager are able to list trade assets and contingents for distribution, negotiate deals, and manage supporting documentation in a secure environment. Users also have access to tools for data analytics, market benchmarking, and pricing indices. In addition, CCRManager provides users with the ability to manage their portfolio, reporting, and compliance activities 24-hours a day.

“This partnership represents Standard Bank’s dedication to leverage world-leading digital platforms that help realize efficiencies in a globally competitive market place,” says Mr Madhavan.  “At Standard Bank, we recognize the potential of trade as a key driver for growth, especially in emerging and frontier markets.”[related-posts]

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