HARARE – Former Steward Bank chief executive officer, Lance Mambondiani has been appointed managing director at BancABC Zimbabwe, a unit of the regional financial services outfit, atlasmara.
He replaces Joe Sibanda, who is retiring from the financial institution.
Mambondiani made the surprise announcement early this month that he would be leaving Steward Bank after leading it to profitability in only four years, and when non in this market expected him to call it a day so early.
BancABC said on Thursday Mambondiani will assume his new role on July 1, with a mandate to drive and reposition one of Zimbabwe’s key financial institutions into a premier financial services provider.
Mambondiani is one of Zimbabwe’s best turnaround strategists, having led Steward Bank from a lossmaking outfit into a stable financial institution whose profitability has been growing.
He is credited for deploying his global knowledge of digital banking onto the Zimbabwean banking landscape during his tenure at Steward, forcing many banks to quickly adopt this strategy, which has been the cornerstone of the market during a period when cash shortages have ripped Zimbabwe apart.
His ability to deliver extraordinary results in a volatile climate as Zimbabwe could have attracted the attention of the BancABC board, but analysts said he could not have come cheap.
But in a market where competition is cutthroat and cuts across the borders due to a digital revolution, any bank would be prepared to invest in executives whose ability to confront unique challenge have been demonstrated by their track records.
Africa’s banks are increasingly riding on technology-based banking.
And the financial and technology skills possessed by executives of Mambondiani’s stature have been in high demand, hence the tag of war over his signature by Zimbabwe’s biggest technology led bank, and a Pan African financial services outfit with a huge ambition.
“Dr Mambondiani’s mandate, as he joins us at this critical time, is to lead BancABC into its next growth phase and reposition the bank as a premier financial services provider in Zimbabwe,” BancABC said in a statement.
“Dr Mambondiani is a seasoned banker, having worked as an executive for regional and international financial institutions over the years. He comes to us with a combination of skills in financial markets, investment banking, retail banking delivery channels, private wealth management, corporate finance, business law, development finance and economics,” the bank said.
Mambondiani holds a Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Zimbabwe, an MSc in Development Finance from the University of Manchester, in addition to a PhD in Banking and Finance.
