The backdrop could not have been more stunning. For their annual Golf Day event, Unifi Credit Ltd chose the sprawling fairways and lush, undulating greens of Bonanza Golf Course, just east of Lusaka International airport. Designed by Peter Matkovich and featuring 18 holes of challenging and rewarding golf, Bonanza’s grounds are interspaced with beautiful ponds lined with trees and shrubbery, offering stunning views of the surrounding countryside. The views feature Mulungushi River and the Chisamba Mountains, delivering breathtaking sceneries that saved as a fitting complement to the ethos of this dynamic company’s approach to corporate culture. As they teed off shortly before noon, the sky was a crisp, clear blue and the sun, high and sizzling hot. A strong breeze rustled the branches, threatening to blow the marquees off their fixings. The mix of roughly forty Unifi officers and employees, plus a sprinkling of personnel from Kukula Capital and a plethora of banks from the city of Lusaka’s financial district, could hardly find anything to wipe the wide, beaming smiles off their faces. Asked how the company describes their corporate culture, Chief Operating Officer, Lillian Bwalya, was quick off the mark with an incisive response. And it showed.
@Clarence_Chongo drops “Making Life Easy – The Unifi Way”@FinInsightZam CFO spent the day with the folks at Unifi who are collaborating partners with @kukulacapital and penned this article (available on the FIZ platforms…
— Financial Insight (@FinInsightZam) September 10, 2023
Here is an extract…
Unifi Credit Demonstrates its… pic.twitter.com/Nk7Z5y3oAO
“We work hard and play hard,” she quipped. “We are a customer-centric company that believes that we look after our customers best by, first, looking after each other through the concept of serious fun at the workplace. If you are unhappy at work, how can you look after your customers? So, we believe in having fun at the office, even as we deliver results.”
There was an incredible amount of laughter throughout the day. The team dishing out snacks and refreshments at Hole No. 1—comprising Administrative Assistants Nita and Siphiwe—took turns to explain that Unifi extend the concept of serious fun to interesting levels through the so-called “Friday Happy Hour.” At all Unify branches, for the last hour of the week, the workforce is encouraged to literally let their hair down in the office through music, drinks and a bit of a dance—while serious work continues apace. This was proven by the COO who, at first encounter, could be seen hunched over her laptop frowning at a set of graphs. Barely an hour later, Ms. Bwalya was on her second Savanah Dry, her laptop conspicuous for its absence. As the day progressed, through the golf, the prizes, cocktails, dinner and speeches, the ethos of having a lot of fun around serious delivery of corporate results was vividly exemplified. You could have been forgiven for thinking you had landed in what could easily be described as corporate eutopia. Perhaps, eutopia is what Unifi strive to reach as evidenced in the company’s expression of purpose.
“Our corporate catchphrase is ‘making life easy,’” said Emil Paul, the Country CEO. “We strive to make life easy for our customers buy designing financial products that help actually make their lives better, rather than just creating problems for them down the line. One way through which Unifi differentiates itself in the market is that we move fast but trade lightly; moving forward fast to pioneer ideas and deliver outstanding products to previously under-served clients. But we tread lightly, and the footprints we leave behind help the people whose lives we touch to achieve even more out of their lives.”
Incorporated as Unity Finance in 2006, Unifi is one of Zambia’s top financial institutions currently offering services in 43 branches in all major districts across the country. A successful and well-received rebranding exercise occurred in August 2020, with a simpler brand name to reflect the company’s philosophy of offering simpler, easier financial solutions. “We are a non-banking financial service provider,” Ms. Bwalya reflected, fresh after a break from the day’s hustle and bustle and as the guests of the Golf Day, now clad in evening wear, gathered in the foyer of the Ciela Convention Centre for a round of cocktails and beers. “Our mid-range goal is to have a track-record of 1 million customers by 2025 and, eventually, to have opened 100 branches in the country. On our 2025 vision, that leaves us only a year and a few months to go, but we are well on target. And, although we are currently at 43 in terms of number of branches, our customers in the areas where we do not have a branch yet shouldn’t worry. We have an app for that. Unifi customers can always reach us right on their mobile phones.”
The COO was referring to the Uniapp, a bespoke Android application that Unifi customers can use to access all of its services. “The Uniapp is like a Unifi branch in your pocket,” Ms. Bwalya said. “It allows customers to enjoy our services anywhere, anytime. You can check your balance, find your nearest branch, reloan, pay, enter our latest competitions and more from anywhere in the world.” As the guests now lightly inebriated made their way into the main hall for the speeches and entertainment, provided by Uncle Rex’s live band, you could feel a pulpable sense of pride hanging over them and filling the very room. Here was a Zambian success story in financial services that any organisation would be lucky to emulate. A success story encapsulated in three simple words…
“Making life easy!”
