Nelson Gahadza
Business Reporter
ECOBANK Group has reaffirmed its long-term commitment to Zimbabwe, with the Pan-African banking group saying its US$24 million investment in a new head office demonstrates confidence in the country’s economic prospects.
Ecobank Group chief executive Mr Jeremy Awori said the landmark investment, commissioned by President Mnangagwa in Harare yesterday, was a testimony that the bank was not in Zimbabwe for the short term, but intended to play a greater role in the country’s economic development and regional integration.
The commissioning of the new headquarters also marked 15 years of Ecobank’s operations in Zimbabwe, where the bank has expanded its customer base and branch network while recording significant growth in revenue.
“Building a landmark headquarters is the strongest commitment a financial institution can make. It signals Ecobank is not just here for the short term. We are here as a long-term partner in Zimbabwe’s national development and regional integration,” Mr Awori said.
He said Ecobank Zimbabwe now serves more than 160 000 customers through 12 branches, 32 automated teller machines and more than 1 600 point-of-sale devices across the country.
The bank’s revenue has grown from US$28 million in 2015 to a record US$137 million in 2025, making Zimbabwe one of Ecobank’s strongest markets in the Central, Eastern and Southern Africa region and among the top five markets across the group’s 34-country network.
Mr Awori said the growth had given the group confidence to make a permanent long-term investment in Zimbabwe under its group-wide growth, transformation and returns strategy.
The strategy would see Ecobank increase its support for sectors critical to Zimbabwe’s economic development, particularly mining, agriculture and manufacturing.
“For us, growth means expanding our support for the real economy, financing the sectors that drive value creation, export earnings and employment. Here in Zimbabwe, that means mining services, agriculture and manufacturing,” he said.
The bank also intends to strengthen digital financial infrastructure, payment solutions and cross-border trade capabilities to support businesses seeking to expand beyond Zimbabwe.
Mr Awori said Ecobank’s pan-African network gave Zimbabwean companies access to markets and opportunities across the continent, as well as international financial centres in London, Paris, Dubai and Beijing.
“Transformation means investing in modern digital infrastructure, secure payment solutions and frictionless cross-border trade capability, so that a business in Bulawayo can transact with a buyer in Guangzhou (China) as easily as it banks down the road,” he said.
The Ecobank chief executive said Zimbabwe’s strategic position in Southern Africa, coupled with its mineral wealth and agricultural and tourism potential, made the country an important market for the group.
He particularly highlighted Zimbabwe’s efforts to promote local processing of minerals such as lithium, arguing that beneficiation would be critical in ensuring African countries derive greater value from their natural resources.
“Africa has exported unprocessed minerals for 150 years and has very little to show for it. The countries that break that pattern in this decade will be the wealthiest in the future,” Mr Awori said.
He said the growth of intra-African trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area presented opportunities for Ecobank, whose original vision was to create financial infrastructure capable of supporting increased trade between African economies.
Mr Awori said Southern Africa, with a population of about 400 million people and huge deposits of platinum, gold, copper, chrome and lithium, was strategically positioned to benefit from the global energy transition.
He also cited Zimbabwe’s agricultural recovery and tourism potential, particularly Victoria Falls, as further reasons for the group’s confidence in the country.
Beyond its financial investment, Ecobank has positioned its new headquarters as an environmentally sustainable building, incorporating several features designed to reduce energy and water consumption.
The building was powered by solar energy and incorporated energy-efficient lighting, rainwater harvesting systems, water-saving fixtures and high-performance glazing.
The headquarters was designed in line with the International Finance Corporation’s EDGE certification framework for green buildings.
IFC’s EDGE programme is a green building standard, free software and certification system designed to make construction in emerging markets more sustainable
“An African bank arguing for Africa’s industrialisation cannot then build carelessly on African land. The standard we ask of others has to start with the standard we set for ourselves,” Mr Awori said.
The bank also marked its 40th anniversary with a donation of 40 computers to the Office of the President and Cabinet.
Mr Awori credited the Government, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and Ecobank’s clients and employees for supporting the bank’s growth since entering the market in 2011.
Tthe new headquarters represented the importance of collaboration between Government, regulators and private capital in supporting economic development.
“Ecobank believes in Zimbabwe. We believe in Southern Africa and we believe in our collective African future,” he said.
Source: Ecobank reaffirms long-term commitment – herald
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