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Mukudzei Chingwere Herald Reporter

Finance and Economic Development Permanent Secretary Mr George Guvamatanga has been appointed to the board of the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank Group (TDB Group).

Mr Guvamatanga is an experienced banker with nearly 30 years experience in the sector, mainly with Barclays Bank.

In a statement last night Finance Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube said President Mnangagwa had approved the banker’s appointment to the international group.

“The appointment, which is for an initial period of three years, is with effect from 1st October 2021 and covers Botswana, Eritrea, Mauritius, Rwanda and Zimbabwe.”

“Established in 1985, the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB), formerly the Preferential Trade Area Bank (PTA) Bank, is a multilateral, treaty-based development financial institution, with assets of over US$5 billion,” said Minister Ncube.

“The bank’s mandate is to finance and foster trade, regional economic integration and sustainable development, through trade finance, project and infrastructure finance, asset management and business advisory services.

“In the past five years, TDB’s shareholder base has grown from 19 to 35 members, including 22 members from across COMESA, EAC and SADC, 2 Non-African member countries and 11 institutional investors.”

Minister Ncube said Mr Guvamatanga was an experienced banker and well-rounded professional with a demonstrated history of working at the highest level in the financial services industry.

“His new role as a non-executive director of the TDB Group will broaden his responsibilities and allow him to make a contribution to the socio-economic development of member states in Eastern and Southern Africa, particularly through trade development and supporting the implementation of projects designed to make African economies increasingly complementary to each other,” said Minister Ncube.