BY FREEMAN MAKOPA ZIMBABWE’S biggest mortgage lender CABS, has unveiled a nostro account designed for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to help them distribute grants to Zimbabwe’s remote districts.
CABS, a unit of financial services giant, Old Mutual, will also extend the service to development organisations, according to a statement released to NewsDay Business.
CABS managing director Mehluli Mpofu said the bank had secured multiple relationships with correspondent banks, which has given it capacity to help customers receive funds in different currencies.
“As CABS, we appreciate the role we play in providing efficient ways of receiving nostro funds by our NGO clients,” Mpofu said.
“We have been hard at work securing multiple relationships with correspondent banks, and we now have a good network through which our customers can receive funds in different currencies which include United States dollars, British pounds and Euros among other currencies.
“The bank unveiled a nostro account tailored for NGOs, placing it in a better position to offer a truly dedicated service to this sector”, he said.
NGOs are the third biggest generators of foreign currency for Zimbabwe, after export proceeds and diaspora remittances.
The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe says total foreign currency receipts from NGOs rose by 50,5% to US$975,16 million in 2021, after ending at US$647,8 million in 2020.
Over five million Zimbabweans are estimated to have fled the country’s two decades old economic crisis, and these have been sending money back home to sustain their families.
With NGOs contributing a significant portion of inflows and deposits, CABS said it was making it easy for them to receive nostro funds through its network of correspondent banks.
CABS’ efforts to secure correspondent banks come during a period when scores of them have left Zimbabwe in the past decade, narrowing opportunities for the country to interface with international financial institutions, the drivers of global finance.
Mpofu said the bank guaranteed US dollar availability at all its branches and ATMs.
“We have come up with a holistic offering to this sector. As CABS, we are at the core of driving financial inclusion, and we have introduced cash disbursement cards which will ease the administration pressure of distributing grants to the remotest parts of the country for our NGO customers. We guarantee USD availability at our branches and USD ATMs, as well as product support at over 900 agents nationwide,” Mpofu added.
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