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Conrad Mwanawashe : Business Reporter

MORE than 3 000 banking agents have been set up around the country as the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the financial services sector intensify implementation of the financial inclusion strategy. This is in response to the call by the RBZ governor Dr John Mangudya for banks to introduce agent banking, an approved third party acting on behalf of a bank to carry out selected banking transactions.The agent banking model is expected to promote financial inclusion as it will enable banks to roll out its services through networks of post offices, microfinance institutions, registered cooperative societies, registered companies, agents of mobile network operators and offices of rural and urban local Government institutions.

Services that will be offered by agents include cash deposits, withdrawals and loans.

In light of the, the RBZ’s director for bank supervision and registrar of banks Norman Mataruka said the central bank has encouraged banks to understand that the traditional form of banking is not properly primed for the SMEs.

“SMEs need to have access to friendlier banks and platforms.

“Banks now have about 3 000 agents countrywide that have been put in place and SMEs can have access to these. We have also said that we need to work together under the digital financing frameworks with MNOs who have come up with various products that are used for payments and savings such as Telecash and EcoCash.

“These will go a long way in making services available to consumers,” said Mr Mataruka.

The RBZ and the banks have introduced financial innovation products aimed at enticing particularly the SMEs sector which has been identified as a key driver of economic growth and development in Zimbabwe as in other developing countries.

According to a World Bank survey of 2011 on 50 000 firms drawn from 99 countries, SMEs contribute to 66 percent of jobs in developing economies.

In Zimbabwe, according to the FinScope SME Survey of 2012, SMEs employ approximately 5,7 million people and SME sector contributes more than 60 percent of the country’s GDP.

Another area of focus under the financial inclusion strategy is on value chain financing.

“We have also initiated a programme where we are saying banks need to focus on value chain financing so that across all the stakeholders the whole value chain system actually benefits,” he said.