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.

Oswin Kasunda NBM plc Head of Retail Banking DivisionNational Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc has teamed up with Growth Africa and Mhub to develop and distribute targeted video content to start-up businesses under the Growth Accelerator programme to address specified needs and gaps in their businesses amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

NBM plc is a financing partner for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Royal Norwegian Embassy-spearheaded Growth Accelerator programme. The Growth Accelerator, as an entrepreneurship support intervention, is aimed at locally-based post-revenue start-ups and is a combination of grant funding, matching external capital and technical assistance in the form of workshops, in situ-catalytic business support and mentorship.

GrowthAfrica and Mhub are implementers of the programme.

Economic activity continues to decline

National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc says there are fears that the economy could slip into recession this year as gross domestic product (GDP) is projected to contract by -3.5 percent due the Covid-19 pandemic.

In its July Monthly Economic Review published on Saturday, NBM plc said like many countries across the world, Malawi’s growth prospects are shrouded in uncertainty with the worst-case real GDP to experience a recession.

Reads the review in part: “Burgeoning public debt and deficit spending coupled with the worst-case recession forecast means that the new administration may not have recourse to a fiscal stimulus package to kick-start the economy. Fiscal consolidation remains the only viable option for the new Minister of Finance.

Napoleon Dzombe is a great man. He is not the incarnation of that 18th Century famous Frenchman, Napoleon Bonaparte. But, even in a different field, he has the same ingenuity as that of the artillery commandeering citizen of France.

His war is different. His military hardware is different. His approach to the wars he fights is different. But his guts and wisdom and purposes aren't different.

Dzombe isn't leading a political revolution; he is leading a welfare revolution among his people in Mtalimanja Village in Dowa District.

…declares K4.3 billion dividend

Partridge addresses the Virtual AGM

Listed National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc on Thursday declared a profit of K17.16 billion, up from K15.97 billion reported in 2018 representing a 7% profit jump for the year ending December 31, 2019.

Addressing the Bank’s 48^th Annual General Meeting (AGM) which was held virtually due to the Covid-19 pandemic, NBM plc Board Chairman George Partridge said non-interest income grew by 10% net Interest and Investment Income grew by 12%.  

National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc has partnered the United Nations Development Fund (UNDP) in the growth accelerator programme which seeks to support Small to  Medium Enterprises (SMEs) grow and scale up their businesses through access to risk capital.

NBM plc Head of Retail Banking Division Oswin Kasunda said in an interview yesterday that the bank felt it was important to be a partner in the programme by providing matching funds to the SMEs which is a requirement for them to access funding of up to US$40,000 from UNDP and the Royal Norwegian Embassy, the main funders of the programme.

Kawawa poses with Mulanje Service Centre staff members with their gifts

National Bank of Malawi (NBM) plc Chief Executive Officer Macfussy Kawawa Thursday evening paid a surprise visit to Mulanje Service Centre where he awarded all staff members with various gifts for an excellent internal audit score.

Kawawa said he was impressed with the audit score of 82% in 2019 from 59% the previous year.

“This is to convey my personal congratulations on your outstanding performance in the 2019 Audit results. Your achievement is exceptional and deserves special recognition and of course, celebration as no Service Centre has attained ‘Excellent’ score in many years.”