Tanzania outlines austerity measures to fund deficit
Tullah Stephen
London Distillers’ plant in Athi River, Kenya will soon be powered by the sun. The distiller, on Friday signed a deal with Solarcentury that will see the solar company install 1MWp roof solar system to generate electricity to its plant.The deal becomes the first ever solar roof top project of its capacity in the East African Region.
Solarcentury will design and install the hybrid system to operate in parallel with the grid, or the company’s diesel generator when the grid fails. Reducing its reliance on diesel and grid energy London Distillers’ will significantly cut energy spend, and offset 335 tonnes of CO₂ every year.
On average, London Distillers spends up to KSh 6 million on electricity per month. By offsetting the need for grid energy, the system will enable London Distillers to save up to USD 180,000 per year for the next 25 years.
“We are always looking for ways to improve the cost efficiency of our operations and protect the environment, and investing in solar presented us with a solution for both these ambitions,” Mohan Galot, Chairman of London Distillers said.
“We worked with Solarcentury to review our long-term energy needs, and help us understand the most effective solar solution for our company. To power the whole plant using solar electricity and saving money while conserving the environment is impressive,” said Mr Galot.
On his part, Guy Lawrence, Director of Solarcentury in East Africa commented, “This solar investment makes London Distillers a pioneer company in the manufacturing sector and also demonstrates a genuine commitment to reducing its environmental impact.
He added that the industry is seeing an increased uptake of commercial scale solar projects among industries looking to reduce the environmental impact of their operations and their energy costs. The cost of the system will be paid for in six years; London Distillers will then enjoy free solar electricity for the lifetime of the plant.
ETI Appoints new Group Executive
Ecobank Transnational Incorporated, parent company of the Ecobank Group, on Monday 17th May, announced the appointment of Mr Amin Manekia as Group Executive of its Corporate & Investment Banking business. Mr Manekia steps into the position vacated in late 2015 by Mr Charles Kié, who moved to become Managing Director of Ecobank Nigeria.
Mr Manekia’s appointment as Group Executive of Ecobank’s Corporate and Investment Banking business takes effect from 4 July 2016. He will report directly to the Ecobank Group CEO and be responsible for the following business lines: Corporate Banking Group; Transaction Service Group; Investment Banking Group; Fixed Income, Currencies & Commodities (Treasury); and Securities, Wealth and Asset Management.
A national of Pakistan, Amin Manekia joins Ecobank with 28 years of international corporate banking experience. It includes an excellent grounding in transaction banking, commercial banking, credit risk and general management. His career spans various business and regional leadership roles across different parts of the world, notably the United States, Eastern Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Mr Manekia was most recently with Citigroup, where he spent 25 years of his career. He joined Citigroup directly from university in the United States in 1988, moving to South Africa earlier this year as Managing Director and Africa Head for Citi Securities and Banking. In this role, he successfully led Citibank’s Institutional Clients business.
Before his move to South Africa, Mr Manekia spent two transit years at the Samba Financial Group in Saudi Arabia. There, he was the executive responsible for rebuilding the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s corporate banking portfolio following the financial crisis. Prior to this, he held various positions with Citibank in different businesses and regions. These included his Nairobi-based role as Managing Director & Banking Head for East and Southern Africa, with business management responsibilities for corporate banking for that region. In 2007, he was the Commercial Banking Head across Citibank’s Africa platform.
As Citibank Country Head for Bulgaria from 2004 to 2007, Mr Manekia successfully led the execution and development of a transformation strategy, which he achieved by quadrupling the bank’s business revenue base within his three-year tenure. In 1993, he relocated from New York to Pakistan, where he worked on the origination side of the business. During his six-year tenure in Pakistan, he held a series of corporate banking roles in Karachi and Lahore. Amin Manekia holds a degree in Business Administration and Finance from Boston University School of Management.
Liberty Pension Services, on Friday, re-branded to Enwealth Financial Services in a move that takes the brand full circle. The financial service company sees a massive overhaul of its brand with a new logo and website. The re-brand comes five years after the company’s inception.
According to the firms CEO Mr Simon Wafubwa, the re-brand has nothing to do with the name but rather as part of a growth strategy increase its market share from 5to 20 percent as it ventures out into the SME market.
Mr. Simon Wafubwa said, “Enwealth’s commitments to ethical business practice and desire to grow past its 5 percent market share, has seen the company craft innovative social security financial solutions that have not only created employment opportunities to serve more than 100 clients but also see its fund value grow to over 40BN in a very short period of time.”
Enwealth also plans to grow its footprint into the African Region with a more comprehensive product offering that includes the post- retirement healthcare funds for retirees and a diaspora pension scheme for retirees. “As we embark on the next phase of this journey, we expect to leverage on technology to drive our market share from 5per cent to 20per cent,” said Mr. Wafubwa.
In line with its commitment to good corporate governance, the company recently appointed Mr. Nelson Kuria the former group MD for CIC, as it’s Board Chair.
On his part Dr. Edward Odundo, CEO at RBA, who was among the guests at the re-branding ceremony, noted that the industry is on a steady growth path. “The industry is expected to hit the KSh1 trillion mark by end of 2016 should we maintain the growth momentum of the assets base at 10per cent annually.”
“This is a clear indication of the critical role that the pensions industry plays in the economic growth agenda of the nation,” he added. The retirement benefits industry assets have grown tremendously from KSh50 billion in 2000 to KSh814 billion in 2015.
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning for Rwanda and Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) signs an agreement for the launch of a national interoperability switch based on the Ericsson M-Commerce Interconnect solution.
The solution will enable financial and payments services providers in the country to connect to one common platform for seamless and real-time payment transactions. This agreement represents another step in Ericsson’s commitment to building the necessary global infrastructure for a new open digital economy.
Peter Heuman, VP and Head of M-Commerce for Ericsson, says: “Africa has been a main driver for innovative mobile financial services. Ericsson M-Commerce Interconnect advances existing efforts by seamlessly linking banks, mobile operators, money transfer organizations, and payment and financial services providers, making the promise of true financial inclusion achievable. The work we are doing with the Government and people of Rwanda on this initiative is imperative for the country and region and we look forward to continued collaboration with countries throughout Africa and globally to build upon these important efforts. ”
This agreement supports the Government of Rwanda’s objective to create a digital economy and drive greater financial and social inclusion for its society and citizens. Ericsson’s Rwanda Interoperability Switch (RIS) will connect financial and payment services providers within the country and enable end-user to enjoy, in real time, a range of digital payments possibilities across all financial platforms and service providers. Further, the inclusion of informal sectors such as savings cooperatives and micro finance players in the ecosystem allow previously excluded citizens to participate in mainstream financial services, thereby increasing financial inclusion.
Claver Gatete, Honorable Minister of Finance and Economic Planning, Rwanda: “Mobile payment technology has the potential to advance financial inclusion and help people build savings while giving government, as well as the private sector, a more cost-effective, efficient, transparent and safer means of disbursing and collecting payments. We are happy to be partnering with Ericsson on this.”
Ericsson M-Commerce Interconnect links Rwandan financial stakeholders to create a real-time, irrevocable financial transactions processing solution with 24 hour availability. Ericsson will also lead on-boarding and integration of Rwanda payment service providers and financial institutions. The Rwanda Interoperability Switch is expected to be operational by early 2017.
Fredrik Jejdling, Head of Region, Sub-Saharan Africa says: “More inclusive mobile financial services solutions could directly impact the UN sustainable development goals by increasing economic growth and reducing inequality within and among countries. This partnership is a great testimonial to how collaboration between the public and private sector can transform the financial sector for the better. This deployment places Rwanda on track to becoming the first truly cashless society in Africa and we are very pleased to be part of making history on the continent.”
Barclays Bank of Tanzania announced the appointment of Abdi Mohamed as the new Managing Director, effective April 2016. Mr. Mohamed takes over from Kihara Maina, who after serving in the role since 2009 will now be pursuing other opportunities outside theBarclays Africa Group.
Until his appointment, Mr. Mohamed had been Chief Operating Officer at Barclays Bank Kenya. He has a long standing career history with Barclays starting in1994 where he has held progressively senior roles in Kenya, Zambia, and the United Kingdom. Barclays Africa Regional Management Chief Executive Mizinga Melu said: “Abdi brings to the role wide-ranging experience across markets and product areas including retail, corporate banking and operations. His career progression within the Barclays Group is a true success story and is testament to our belief in advancing talented employees.”
Barclays Bank Tanzania Chairman Dr. Ramadhani K. Dau commented: “We welcome Abdi to Barclays Tanzania and are confident that his breadth of financial services expertise will help us in executing our growth strategy in the market. We take this opportunity to thank Kihara who has played a critical role in leading the business in Tanzania during the last six years which has seen us register a number of milestones in the market, including
the roll-out of leading digital platforms such as Strategic Hello Money (SHM), BIR, BARX and pioneering loan products.” Commenting on his appointment, Mr. Mohamed said: “I am excited by the opportunity to lead the Barclays Tanzania team. We see continued growth potential in the Tanzanian economy and my focus will be to ensure that Barclays is an active participant in enabling and supporting this growth.
We will work with all the relevant stakeholders to position BBT as the Go To bank for our customers and an exciting place to work for colleagues.” Barclays Bank of Kenya Managing Director Jeremy Awori said Abdi’scareer progression within the Barclays Group is a true success story and testament
to the bank’s belief in advancing the careers of talented colleagues. “We are greatly honoured to have worked with him here in Kenya. Abdi espouses the true meaning of the values of Barclays and his diligence has seen him forge an admirable career. I congratulate him as he takes on his new role,” Mr Awori said.
Mr. Mohamed holds a Masters in Business Administration (MBA) – International from Edith Cowan University in Perth Australia.