National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc Wednesday donated K1.5 million towards this year’s Economics Association of Malawi (ECAMA) annual lake conference slated for November 19-20 this year.

Presenting the cheque in Blantyre, NBM plc Service Centre Manager for Henderson Street Service Centre, Tamara Mtuwa said the conference is coming at a time that the world economy including Malawi’s economy is under intense pressure as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

NBM plc dangles K4 million in promotion

NBM, Shoprite, PEP customers set to win in K4 million promotion

William Kaunda

National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc has partnered with retail giants Shoprite and PEP stores to run the Go Cashless and Win promotion in which customers will win shopping vouchers worth K4 million if they use their NBM plc visa cards at NBM plc Point of Sale (POS) devices to pay for goods and services in the two retail stores.

NBM plc Head of Digital Banking Services William Kaunda said the Bank is running the promotion as one way of helping customers embrace cashless transactions.

National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc has partnered with a cancer awareness and rights organization, Think Pink Malawi to hold this year’s annual breast cancer awareness virtual walk slated for this Saturday (tomorrow).

NBM plc Marketing and Corporate Affairs Manager Akossa Hiwa said in an interview that due to Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, this year’s walk will be a ‘virtual’ one where people are supposed to observe social distancing rules.

“As you are aware, the month of October is the Breast Cancer awareness month and each year, Think Pink Malawi holds an annual breast cancer awareness walk where women, men, boys and girls wear pink and walk distances to bring awareness of the disease. This year due to Covid-19, we will be having a virtual walk where people will be walking for at least 2 kilometres in their preferred environment,” said Hiwa.

Listed National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc has donated K2.5 million towards cancer screening and treatment of vulnerable men and women through a cancer awareness and rights organization, Think Pink Malawi.

Speaking during the handover of the cheque in Blantyre at the weekend, NBM plc Marketing and Corporate Affairs Manager Akossa Hiwa noted that the month of October, which is Cancer awareness month, NBM plc is taking an active role in driving awareness and making treatment or screening accessible to the vulnerable through several initiatives

“The Bank is cognizant of the fact that annually, breast cancer is the cause of approximately 42,000 deaths worldwide. According to a 2015 WHO report, 7% of deaths in Malawi is caused by Breast Cancer. However, with early detecting and screening, this form of cancer is curable.”

National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc has announced the appointment of Harold Jiya as its Deputy Chief Executive Officer (DCEO) and Chief Commercial Officer (CCO), effective October 1, 2020.
Until his appointment, Jiya served as the Bank’s General Manager & Head, Corporate Banking Division since 2016.

Kaunda (right) presents the dummy cheque to Nkungula

Listed National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc on Friday donated MK1.5 million to the Institute of Bankers in Malawi (IOB) towards this year’s Bankers Conference scheduled for early next month.

Making the donation, NBM plc Head of Cards &eBanking William Kaunda said the theme of the conference ‘Surviving the VUCA world: The age of Business Mavericks’ used in context of the current situation, the world has become more Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) due to the impact of Covid-19 and other political shenanigans.

Listed National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc Wednesday donated face masks worth K2 million to Blantyre City Council (BCC)’s ‘Donate a mask’ campaign to protect vulnerable school pupils in the city from Covid-19 pandemic.

Making the donation in Blantyre, Chief Executive Officer for NBM Development Bank Limited, a subsidiary for NBM plc Lucious Mandala said the Bank is keen in ensuring that its customers, members of staff, stakeholders and communities within which they operate in are protected from Covid-19 infection.

“On 7th August 2020, the Malawi Government gazetted new Covid-19 precautionary measures which include the mandatory wearing of face masks. However, it is apparent that vulnerable members of the society cannot afford to purchase masks. As a Bank of the Nation, NBM plc is committing to helping in critical areas that affect the inhabitants of Malawi hence this donation,” said Mandala.

Oswin Kasunda NBM plc Head of Retail Banking Division

National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc recently partnered with Growth Africa and Mhub to develop and distribute targeted video content to start-up businesses under the Growth Accelerator programme 2020 Cohort.

Our Business Editor William Kumwembe sat down with NBM plc Head of Retail Banking Division (PBBD) Oswin Kasunda to find out more about the programme and understand what other services NBM Plc makes available to start-ups and SMEs. Excerpts:

NBM plc is one of the partners in the Growth Accelerator Programme – what does this program entail and what prompted the Bank to partner up on this project?

The programme seeks to accelerate the growth of innovative and impactful early stage Malawian enterprises. The objective is to grow entrepreneurial ventures which can create jobs and promote private sector development. This is done through provision of access to risk capital and business acceleration through mentorship and technical assistance. Growth Accelerator was launched in June 2018 with United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Royal Norwegian Embassy as main funders. Growth Africa and Mhub are the implementing agents of the programme. The accelerator provides 12 months of business support and acceleration.

National Bank of Malawi plc is equally interested and working towards the development of start-ups and SMEs; therefore, the Bank joined the programme as a partner in June 2019.