AFC Commercial Bank says it will continue to enhance its financial inclusion drive following the launch of its Digipay Wallet, an innovative solution that seeks to improve access to banking services using mobile phones.
The bank, through its wide reach, particularly in farming communities, is a critical player in driving financial inclusion.
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FinScope Consumer Survey in 2014 discovered that 23 percent of Zimbabweans were financially excluded (did not use financial products to manage their financial matters) as eight percent relied only on informal financial services while 30 percent used bank services.
AFC Commercial Bank has however, stepped in to fill the gap giving access to the financially excluded.
The move is also in line with the dictates of the National Development Strategy (NDS 1) which seeks to uplift the lives of ordinary Zimbabweans to attain a middle-income society by 2030.
In a statement, giving an overview of the 2023 calendar year, AFC Holdings group chief executive officer Mr Francis Macheka said the group is committed to support smallholder farmers, medium and large-scale farmers, contracting entities, irrigation schemes and various other value chain partners.
“AFC Commercial Bank remains pivotal in driving financial inclusion, recently, our Commercial Bank launched a game changing mobile wallet, the AFC Digipay wallet.”
Mr Macheka said the wallet is set to transform communities across the country by helping them to access banking services using their cellphones.
The bank has gone all its way out to support the diversified communities in the country including the whole range of farmers from small to commercial.
By end of 2023 AFC Holdings Land and Development Bank had disbursed over $100 billion worth of loans to farmers across value chains since its inception in May 2021.
This support was mainly extended to maize, wheat, horticulture, livestock, and export crops sectors of the economy.
From its origin, the Land and Development Bank has made commendable strides in driving its mandate to provide affordable finance and the food security drive.
Through the AFC Leasing Company farmers can hire affordable farming equipment which includes tractors, disc harrows, planters, combines, rippers, ridgers and bailers among other things.
Through various activities and operations, The Land and Development Bank has managed to capacitate over 5,580 farmers, impacting over 102 000 individuals nationwide.
Over 50 000 hectares have been financed to drive food security and self-sufficiency in the country.
“Looking forward into 2024, we will continue to leverage Government support to drive our agenda to transform the agriculture sector and continue to maintain our one-stop shop service covering various value chains across agriculture,” said Mr Macheka.
AFC Holdings was established in April 2021 following the Government’s resolution to transform Agribank into a one-stop shop for agriculture financing.
AFC Holdings operates four business units namely AFC Commercial Bank, AFC Land and Development Bank, AFC Leasing Company, and AFC Insurance.
Herald
