On behalf of the Board of Directors, it gives me great pleasure to present the 2017 annual report.
The year 2017 was a pivotal year for the Bank in which a strong foundation had been laid for the continued transformation of the organisation. Business performance was encouraging, and the Bank moved from a 5th position in the market to an average of 2 as ranked by deposits and 1st as ranked by revenue generation. This reflects well on Management’s strategic choices and with the implementation of the Medium Term Plan 2020 (MTP). The MTP, which aims to establish Zanaco Plc as the top transactional and digital bank by 2020, provides a strong impetus for continued growth in 2018. Furthermore, the Zanaco Plc share price tripled in 2017 from K0.26 per share to K0.96.
Operational Efficiency
The MTP is further premised on improving the functional efficiencies, processes, policies, products and propositions. Significant progress has been made in 2017 whilst implementing improvement initiatives will be a key focus in 2018. This will significantly boost revenue and balance sheet growth as the following focus areas are tightened:…
Prudent Risk Management
The micro economic challenges will continue to pose a risk in the credit portfolio. In order to mitigate this risk, Zanaco went through a process of reviewing its credit risk end-to-end administration process in order to resolve any identified gaps. The Management team has made great progress in reviewing the entire credit portfolio to ensure there is no unidentified underlying risk. This was also in tandem with the Bank’s compliance with IFRS 9 which will poise the Bank for improved business performance in 2018…
Board Changes
With the introduction in September 2017 of the Bank of Zambia Corporate Governance Directives, the Board of Directors underwent some changes. Essentially the changes were the retirement or resignation of Directors who had served over six years and the shareholders change of their nominated Directors. The new members who have been brought in come with different skill sets which will go a long way in buttressing the existing ones and thus help to provide improved oversight over the Bank. The Board is also encouraging empowerment of the youth generation by infusing young professionals as part of its succession strategy…
Future Prospects
Having successfully implemented elements of the prioritised initiatives to raise Zanaco as a front runner in the digital and transactional space, we feel confident that the Bank is well positioned to compete strongly now and in the future. We continue to see remarkable improvement in the Bank’s performance, revenue generation, share price, profitability and operational efficiency…
Acknowledgments
I wish to sincerely thank the Board of Directors for the unwavering commitment and support rendered to the Managing Director and his Management team. The high levels of engagement and interaction between the Board and Management provide a great platform for proactively responding to the ever changing environment in the sector and the industry…
God bless us all.
Charity C Lumpa
CHAIRPERSON
