24th NOVEMBER 2020
- THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA H.E. DR. EDGAR CHAGWA LUNGU
- THE MINISTER FOR SOUTHERN PROVINCE HON. EDIFY HAMUKALE
- THE MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE HON. MICHAEL KATAMBO
- THE MINISTER OF FISHERIES AND LIVESTOCK HON. NKANDU LUO
- OTHER CABINET MINISTERS PRESENT
- PERMANENT SECRETARIES PRESENT
- SENIOR GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
- DIRECTORS AND REPRESENTATIVES FROM VARIOUS MINISTRIES
- CHAIRMAN FOR YALELO LIMITED – MR. FISHO MWALE
- PRODUCTION DIRECTOR FOR YALELO LIMITED PIETER LAMB
- CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER FOR EXPORT TRADING GROUP (ETG) – MR. RAJ GANAPATHI
- CEO`S, MANAGING DIRECTORS PRESENT
- REPRESENTATIVES OF THE VARIOUS COOPERATIVES PRESENT
- THE MEDIA PRESENT
- DISTINGUISHED LADIES AND GENTLEMEN
GOOD MORNING
It is an honour to be here in Siavonga District of the Southern Province and be given an opportunity to address you all on such an important occasion where we are empowering the Buyantanshi and Kamimbi cooperatives as well as commissioning the latest innovation from Yalelo Limited, the automated fish harvesting vessel.
On our last official visit to Southern Province we partnered with the Provincial Administration to host the successful Southern Province Investment and Tourism Expo under the theme: Accelerating Development Through Value Addition and Diversification. The diversification into Aquaculture we are witnessing today speaks directly to the theme of the Expo.
I would like to first and foremost state that Atlas Mara bank is a strong believer in both the Agriculture and Aquaculture potential of this country. We are proud to be playing an active role in the development of the Agriculture sector as one of the pioneers of the Fertiliser Input Support Program (FISP) and our ongoing support to the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) as well as supporting various players in the agriculture value chain such as the Export Trading Group (ETG) here present.
Your Excellency, Distinguished guests,
We applaud you and your Government for the strides you have made in promoting the Agriculture and Aquaculture sectors. By consistently promoting investment in these two sectors you are not only ensuring that the country has food security, but you are also creating opportunities for value addition to our primary activities by creating value chains that if properly executed we have no doubt that one day we shall see our country become a net exporter of agriculture and aquaculture commodities.
With your governments support for the Aquaculture sector we have started to see a diversification from traditional crop and livestock farming to Aquaculture of which Yalelo Limited, where we are today, is a glittering example of what is possible.
Today we shall witness small scale farmers, women and youths moving away from the traditional crop and livestock farming and venturing into fish farming. These Aquaculture empowerment schemes will notably increase the countries production of fish thereby reducing the deficit of fish this country currently faces. This is the diversification we are aiming for.
Your Government has been consistent in asking communities to form cooperatives as a collective way of driving Agriculture and Aquaculture development.
This partnership with cooperatives ensures that the benefits will be felt at Individual level, Community level and eventually at a national level.
For the Bank, working through cooperatives gives assurance that the funds we are making available today to Buyantanshi and Kamimbi Cooperatives will be used for the intended purpose and will help people move out of poverty and achieve their dreams, such as owning a home or giving their children an education.
Cooperatives teach new skills, from adult literacy to business operations, they also empower individuals by giving them a chance to participate in decisions, which affect them.
Cooperatives also have an advantage of keeping economic benefits within a community as the members tend to be community residents.
We also see Cooperatives as a great opportunity to promote financial inclusion and promote a micro savings and micro credit culture especially to people with limited incomes and not serviced by the commercial banks.
Your Excellency, Distinguished guests,
As a bank we are aware that only about 60% of the Zambian population is banked while millions of citizens still remain unbanked. Currently Atlas Mara has one of the biggest branch networks in Zambia covering all the ten provinces of this country, including our latest branch which was recently launched in Zambezi District of the North Western Province.
However, we are determined to reach even further into our communities and have come up with two solutions to achieve this. The first is called Tenga Mobile Money and the second is Atlas Mara Community Banking.
The Tenga Mobile Money platform is a self-service mobile money e-wallet that enables any individual with the most basic mobile phone and an NRC to self-register and then being able to immediately transact by depositing and withdrawing funds, borrowing, saving, transferring money and making Bill Payments, to name some of the features.
Tenga Mobile Money is unique in that it works on all the three mobile networks and is available in seven local languages.
In promoting a savings culture we have added a new innovation to the Tenga Mobile Money Wallet bouquet of services which we call Group Savings which is also commonly known as Village Banking. Tenga Group Savings can enable the women of Buyantanshi and Kamimbi cooperatives to pool their resources and save while earning interest right on their phones.
We have partnered with World Vision Zambia to develop this solution which is changing the way ‘Village banking’ is conducted by moving away from the traditional steel box and keys to a more user friendly and safe mobile phone solution with transparency and instant reconciliation available to all savings group members.
Currently we are running a pilot program of fifty (50) Savings Groups comprising of over 900 members in Chongwe, Rufunsa, Katete, and Kasenengwa. Once the pilot is concluded we shall be opening up this program nationwide across the ten provinces.
I would like to add that Tenga Mobile Money comes with no monthly charges for account maintenance and you are only charged a minimal amount for transactions such as cash withdrawals at the point of transaction through our branch, ATM’s and partners Kazang, Zoona and C-Grade 543 Konse Konse, which collectively are over 12,000 outlets across the country including our rural areas.
Your Excellency, Distinguished guests,
To support the extension of financial inclusion into our communities we have introduced Atlas Mara Community Banking, an agency banking solution where Atlas Mara will be identifying and partnering with SME’s in the communities across the country to set up an agency banking network which will support the Tenga Mobile Money e-wallet with cash in and cash out services. (On display here today we have one of our Atlas Mara Community Banking Agents who will be situated in the area and will be able to provide some banking services to the community supported by our Chirundu Branch).
Your Excellency, Distinguished guests,
Our support for the 34 women from Buyantanshi and Kamimbi Cooperative will be in the form of funding for their activities for six (6) months while they develop their fish farming start up pilot program.
Atlas Mara bank will make available Fifty Thousand Kwacha (K50,000.00) and this will go towards various administrative and operational costs to ensure that project starts on a firm footing.
Atlas Mara bank will also provide financial literacy training to the Buyantanshi and Kamimbe cooperatives in order that as we get to the six month’s milestone for the project the members are sufficiently upskilled to expand the project to the next level which is self-sufficiency.
Your Excellency, distinguished guests,
For the Bank, Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is one of the biggest tenets for Atlas Mara’s vision. This means ensuring continuous improvement in the communities that we operate in.
We strive to be responsive to the needs of society hence there is need to develop strong and relevant CSR programmes in partnership with like-minded organisations such as Yalelo Limited and Export Trading Group that have a passion to uplift communities and help mitigate the various challenges they face.
We look forward to the success of this project and I would like to take this opportunity to thank you and all the stakeholders present for your hard work and contribution.