ZANACO Chief Executive Officer, Mukwandi Chibesakunda has disclosed that the bank has recorded the highest profit after tax in the history of the bank and the industry resulting in it becoming Zambia’s leading commercial bank.
Speaking at the bank’s post -annual general meeting media briefing, Ms Chibesakunda said 2021 was an exciting year for Zanaco as it received awards from euromoney, the international banker and global finance recognising its resilience and performance despite the pandemic, innovation and delivery of solutions meet various stakeholder requirements.
“We recorded the highest profit after tax in the history of the bank and the industry resulting in Zanaco becoming Zambia’s leading commercial bank. We have continued to accelerate our transformational journey to become the top transactional customer centric bank in Zambia by ensuring that we take the lead in, enhanced client experience and efficiencies through innovation,” she said.
Ms Chibesakunda said the bank is also proud of the progress made its digital first strategy, particularly in the delivery of our Zanaco xpress agent solution whose distribution now stands at over 17,000 agents.
She said the growth of Zanaco xpress agent solution is as much about making the bank more accessible to customers, as it is about providing an entrepreneurial opportunity to the communities.
Ms Chibesakunda said some of the key strategic initiatives delivered last year include product and service suite expansion to solution for the various needs of customers and the enhancement of the bank’s information security posture to improve cyber security maturity and protect data.
She said the bank further invested in the stabilization of its core banking platform to create a foundation for a system upgrade and modernization that will result in more robust service platforms.
“To support the growth in our client base, we continued to evolve our approach to client experience by repositioning the model for effective impact. the growth in our client base to 3 million is a demonstration of what Zanaco stands for, the diverse mix of who we serve and the positive impact we are having on millions of people and businesses in the country,” she said.
Ms Chibesakunda said the bank also recognizes its intermediary role of creating value for all stakeholders, which ultimately contributes to a more resilient Zambian economy for the present and the future.
She further said in terms of Zanaco’s financial performance, the bank’s balance sheet presented a growth of 35% supported by a 23% growth in deposits.
“We further maintained market leadership in loans and advances which closed at K9.6 billion at year end. In 2021, our non-performing loans ratio was 3.1% as at 31st December 2021,” She said.
The CEO said the bank will continue to position itself in embracing digital and sustainability developments to compete strongly and transform the face of banking in Zambia.