Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. THE Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) acting governor Jesimen Chipika has revealed that the central bank is processing its first Sustainable Standards Certification Initiative (SSCI), as it seeks to reinvigorate the financial sector.
ZB Bank attained Sustainability Standards Certification in September this year under the SSCI spearheaded by the European Organisation for Sustainable Development (EOSD) based in Germany.
Speaking during ZB Sustainability Standard Certification Initiative in Harare yesterday, Chipika said economies the world over were shifting to sustainability standards, which were crucial for financial institutions to achieve sustainable development.
“As we speak, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe is also undergoing the SSCI certification for central banks… We want that story to be told in Zimbabwe and beyond, and if each one of our financial institutions does that, the 2030 upper-middle income, if not high income, will happen. So, what we are here to implement today is just the starting point of acknowledging the good work that you did to get the certification,” she said.
Chipika said sustainability was one of the core principles that defined any business model in this era, adding that businesses should embrace it to remain relevant and competitive.
“We are expecting more banking institutions to be SSCI-certified in the near future. So far, out of our 19 big banks in the country, 15 of them are already enrolled on SSCI.
“We want the whole financial sector to be moving together to bring up the country and we have three smaller ones, so altogether now 18. That is almost more than 90% of our financial sector is on these standards and you [ZB Bank] are the first one to be certified.”
Chipika said RBZ was working to ensure transparency in the banking sector, and that bank charges were reviewed to propel financial transactions.
“All we can do is to persuade them to bring down the charges. But we also believe that as they are modernising and digitising the whole financial sector transactions, technology brings down costs, so we will see the costs coming down,” she said.
ZB Financial Holdings chief executive officer Shepherd Fungira said the SSCI certification was about establishing a way of doing business for the future.
“So we have been certified as a nation from that point to say that the manner in which we want to conduct business is meeting the standards,” he said.
“So that’s what the certification is about. In itself, the certification is about establishing a way of doing business into the future, which meets certain standards that are set.
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