NMB Bank’s largest shareholder, Rabobank of the Netherlands, has partnered with the Dutch Development Bank (FMO) and the Norwegian State owned development fund (Norfund) to form a Sub-Saharan Africa-focused investment company, Arise. The partnership was officially launched in Cape Town, South Africa in February 2017.
The ambition of the partnership is to build strong, locally owned financial institutions that serve small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the rural sector, and clients who have not previously had access to financial services.
Rabobank, FMO and Norfund have each in their individual capacities been successful in the development of the financial sector in Africa. Through Arise, the partners aim to continue to adequately support the growth and advancement of financial institutions by proactively providing among other things, technical assistance and management services in the fields of governance, management, marketing, innovation, compliance and risk management.
To achieve their goal, members of the partnership agreed to pool together their networks, expertise and assets, including the stakes they individually held in several financial institutions in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). For Rabobank, this represents its shareholding in a number of financial institutions in SSA including NMB Bank Plc (NMB).
The transfer of Rabobank’s shares in NMB to Arise is subject to regulatory approvals both at shareholder level as well as at the various national levels. Rabobank has lodged its share transfer request at the Ministry of Finance (MOF), the Bank of Tanzania (BOT) and the Capital Markets and Securities Authority (CMSA).
NMB will provide an update of the proceedings upon the receipt of responses from the regulatory bodies.
For enquiries contact:
Eunice Chiume
Head of Communications and Corporate Affairs
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Mark Hiza
Manager; Strategy
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About Rabobank
Rabobank is a Dutch cooperative bank that was founded by farmers in the late 19th century. In the Netherlands, Rabobank is an all-finance bank with a strong local presence, providing a variety of products and services to individuals and companies. Rabobank serves 7.4 million clients in the Netherlands and has 506 branches. Internationally, Rabobank has the ambition to be the leading global F&A bank with a presence in over 40 countries serving over 8.6 million clients. Strengthened by its cooperative roots, Rabobank has a dedicated department that holds minority stakes and provides support to financial service providers in emerging markets, called Rabo Development. Rabo Development’s mission is to provide developing societies with improved access to financial services, employing cooperative principles and banking expertise. Rabo Development aims to reach the unbanked whether they are smallholders, SMEs or private individuals. Rabo Development holds minority stakes in five investee companies in five countries, namely: Zanaco – Zambia, NMB – Tanzania, BPR – Rwanda, BTM – Mozambique, DFCU – Uganda.
About Norfund
Norfund, the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries, was established by the Norwegian Parliament in 1997. Norfund’s objective is to contribute to reducing global poverty through contributing to the growth of sustainable commercial enterprises in developing countries. It offers equity, venture capital and other loans to companies in selected countries and business areas where the private sector lacks sufficient capital to grow and develop viable businesses. The main business areas are investments in financial institutions, clean energy, agribusiness and the financing of small- and medium-sized companies through investment funds. The main regions of investment are Eastern and Southern Africa. In addition, Norfund invests in selected countries in South and Southeast Asia and Central America. At year-end 2015, Norfund had a portfolio of approximately USD 1.8 billion of which 53% was in Sub-Saharan Africa.
About FMO
FMO is the Dutch development bank. As a leading impact investor, FMO supports sustainable private sector growth in developing countries and emerging markets by investing in ambitious projects and entrepreneurs. FMO believes that a strong private sector leads to economic and social development and has a 45-year proven track-record of empowering people to employ their skills and improve their quality of life. FMO focuses on three sectors that have high development impact: financial institutions, energy and agribusiness, and food & water. With a committed portfolio of EUR 9.3 billion spanning 85 countries, FMO is one of the larger bilateral private sector development banks in the world. For more information please visit www.fmo.nl.
