DR. LANCE MAMBONDIANI Managing Director & CEO BancABC Zimbabwe

Q- In post COVID-19 era, with the emergence and growth of FinTech and digitalization of banks what do you think would be potential opportunities of the banking industry? 

COVID-19 significantly impacted the whole world, it has certainly made us more conscious about hygiene and has also forced us to deliberate on our daily routines. The pandemic has opened tremendous opportunities in the banking sector to increase the pace of digitisation. Contactless payments and e-commerce gained significant ground during the lockdown period. The payments journal for example reported that 30% of consumers started using contactless payments and of those 30%, 70% will continue to use such payment methods even after the pandemic has died down. The deployment of these solutions in Africa has to be coupled with improvements in infrastructure and connectivity. 

Q- Also, what would be concerns or challenges of the banking industry?

Loan portfolio management is an area of major concern due to increased business vulnerabilities arising from the pandemic, sectors such as Tourism and Hospitality sector have taken a significant hit. Bailouts by Central Bank’s have assisted in mitigating these effects but access to these funds and the eventual repayment terms for small businesses has been onerous in some instances. For banks that’s a challenge because we want our SMEs to grow and this pandemic has resulted in a setback.

Q- What is the role of CXO (depending on speaker designation) from developing policies to developing infrastructure for Digital Transformation in the banking sector?

A CEO is really a project sponsor and acts as the Chief Encouragement Officer or Chief Inspiration Officer in the digital transformation process. After allocating the right resources and prioritising projects, the CEO needs to encourage or inspire the team to the desired future state, this future state is understood by CEOs at a strategic level, taking into account the structural changes in operating, for example the migration to cloud banking. 

Q- According to you, who leads the way in change and transformation -Banks or FinTechs? Who inspires, who follows trends and who brings customer needs into perspective? 

As opposed to a competitive approach we’ve witnessed a collaborative approach in which banking industry leaders are partnering with or investing in Fintechs. The leaders are those banks and fintech that understand the need for collaboration and play off of each other’s strengths, the capital base of traditional banks and the dexterity and flexibility of Fintechs that are unencumbered by legacy systems. 

Q- What steps would you take in your organization towards building a Cyber Resilient and Digitally Empowered Economy? 

The human element is incredibly important in this process. Unless one moves together and creates understanding within the workforce, these fanciful terms remain foreign to many people. To build such an organisation requires you to demonstrate that there are real benefits to being cyber resilient and digitally empowered. So, people first, the rest of the building blocks fall into place after that. 

Q- I believe you had a chance to go through our brochure and agenda, what are your thought about this conference? Which session are you looking forward to attend? 

The agenda of this conference clearly highlights the broader African agenda, that is to financially empower individuals through technology. Am I allowed to say I look forward to attending all of the sessions? If I had to had to pick one it would be the opening day panel on The Transforming Face of Banking in East Africa: Opportunities and Challenges.

Q- What would you like to say to your industry peers and banking professionals who are looking forward to attend this conference?

I would like to say that you either fear or you embrace change. To those attending this conference, thank you for choosing to embrace the future. Although I am a participant, I am certainly looking forward to hearing from the various industry experts featuring at Finnovex to discuss the latest trends and innovations in banking and the collaborative approach with Fintechs.