The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) recently disbursed USD 10 million to form the Zimbabwe Women Microfinance Bank (ZWMB) Limited, an institution whose focus is to provide deposit and lending services to rural women entrepreneurs. Based in Harare, ZWMB is licensed and wholly-owned by RBZ. Its microloans will be priced an unspecified level below the market rate, which averages 9.32 percent as of June 2018.
To boost outreach, ZWMB will partner with the government-owned People’s Own Savings Bank (POSB), which has 34 branches largely in rural areas. Formed in 1904 as the Post Office Savings Bank, POSB provides savings and lending services to individual customers, enterprises and local governments. As of December 2017, POSB reported total assets of USD 227 million, customer deposits of USD 159 million and outstanding loans of USD 92 million.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ), founded in 1956 as the Bank of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, is Zimbabwe’s central banking authority. It is responsible for the formulation and implementation of monetary policy and is led by Governor John Mangudya as of 2018. As of 2016, the bank reported total assets USD 8.7 billion.
By Nicholas Galimberti, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
Chronicle article
http://www.chronicle.co.zw/rbz-licenses-womens-bank/
RBZ annual report
http://www.rbz.co.zw/assets/2016-bsd-annual-report-.pdf
POSB background
http://www.posb.co.zw/about-us/
POSB finances
http://www.posb.co.zw/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Download.pdf
Zimbabwe interest rates
http://www.rbz.co.zw/assets/weekly-economic-highlights-01-june-2018-volume-20-number-22.pdf
MicroCapital Brief; September 5, 2016; Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Registers 4 Additional Microfinance Institutions (MFIs): Nurture Finance, Junior Marima, Gryton Capital and Realty Microfinance
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-reserve-bank-of-zimbabwe-registers-4-additional-microfinance-institutions-mfis-nurture-finance-junior-marima-gryton-capital-and-realty-microfinance/
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