It’s always refreshing reading a board chairperson’s letter to shareholders in annual reports that speaks to the heart of what the firm tried to achieve in the year under review. Charity Lumpa’s 2017 letter to shareholders was no exception. Her letter touched on everything from operational efficiency to prudent risk management. It is clear from […]
It’s December 2015 and Jes Staley, the veteran American banker who had spent almost three decades on Wall Street with JP Morgan Chase is appointed CEO of Barclays Bank PLC. Expectations are high among financial observers that they finally have the man to lead the firm to the top of the pile after being mired […]
Digital and online banking is the present. A good number of Zambian banks have invested resources and capabilities to deliver e-services to their clients. Many have delivered services that are easily accessible with the hope of improving the banking experience. However, when we attended the unveiling of #Kula at the prestigious Radisson Hotel on the […]
It all started with a right offer. Investrust bank needed to raise money. Debt or Equity are usually the choices that premier companies have when it comes to raising finance for whatever reason. The bank chose the latter which involved issue of rights to its existing shareholders that would enable them to buy additional shares […]
The banking industry has come a long way since the time Goldsmiths started keeping gold in vaults. It is an industry that has seen tremendous changes over the ages, from the highs to the crushing lows reminiscent of Lehman Brothers in 2008. It’s an industry that has almost seen it all, well “almost” is the […]
On 26th January 2018, Moody’s Investors Service announced that it had revised the rating outlook for the Government of Zambia to stable from negative and affirmed its B3 long-term issuer rating. Finance Minister Felix Mutati will be most pleased with this development as the measures his economic and finance team’s put in place are beginning […]
There is an analogy that can be noticed in the way boards across industries pick top talent to run their firms. Take the premier league as an example. When Chelsea Football Club have a run of bad results, the last 10 years has seen many managers of high football pedigree take over the reins. Although […]
In a week that should have ended quietly, two institutions announced the exits of their CEOs. The first announcement came out of Stanbic Bank. The board of the bank announced the exit of Charles Mudiwa who now moves to Stanbic Kenya as CEO. Tenure of CEOs in Zambian banks often ranges from 2 to 5 […]
Marketing pundits in several banks have been teetering their teeth wonder who the identity of “Bank Here” was over the last couple of weeks. There have been numerous theories such as “It must be Atlas Mara, Bb Diamond secure the Fairfax deal so they are awash with cash”. But not it was not Atlas Mara […]
The end of the third quarter is always an interesting time of year for the financial sector. From a bankers perspective in particular, the third quarter is when you seriously assess your strategies and your execution of that strategy. Are you on target? How well are your competition doing? What can we do differently? These […]