NMB Bank has secured US$15 million for on-lending to the country’s agriculture sector, the parent company has said.
In a trading update for the third quarter ended September 30, 2025, NMBZ Holdings Limited (NMBZ) said through its banking subsidiary, NMB Bank Limited, it continues to support key pillars of the economy through its access to offshore lines of credit.
“During the quarter under review, the bank started drawing down on the US$50 million Afreximbank line, with over US$25 million already disbursed to the mining and construction sectors. The bank finalised a US$15 million agrobond, which was privately placed with a European fund and will go towards supporting the agriculture sector,” the group said.
An agrobond is a debt instrument — essentially a type of bond — specifically structured to raise capital for agricultural activities.
In May, the group revealed that it was finalising external lines of credit worth US$70 million to fuel productive sector lending, part of its strategy to secure US$100 million in offshore credit lines this year.
Some of the European entities that have provided credit lines to NMBZ include the French development bank, Proparco, the European Investment Bank, FMO of the Netherlands and Swedfund of Sweden.
Most of these funds have gone to support exporters and small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
NMBZ last year raised credit lines of over US$65 million, which all went to support exporters from various sectors of the economy.
Giving an update on the performance in the quarter ended September 30, 2025, the group said its property subsidiary, NMB Properties Limited, oversaw the construction of two separate cluster developments, with 18 and 10 units respectively, both located in Marlborough, Harare.
It said the fintech unit, Xplug Solutions Limited, successfully completed projects for four major banks in Tanzania, Uganda and Rwanda.
“The company continues to onboard new customers across Africa for custom software development services,” NMBZ said.
Total assets closed last year at ZiG7,3 billion, up about 8% from the comparative prior period, largely funded by an increase in foreign credit lines as well as deposits.
During the period under review, total assets amounted to ZiG9,2 billion, signifying an increase of 27% from the end of 2024.
NMBZ said this was anchored on the increase in loans and advances, which amounted to ZiG4,2 billion at the end of the quarter.
“This is a 46% growth from 31 December 2024. On the other hand, deposits grew by 57% from ZiG2,5 billion at 31 December 2024 to ZiG3,9 billion as at 30 September 2025,” NMBZ said.
The group said it would continue to focus on supporting key sectors of the economy.
“The group generated operating income of ZiG1,3 billion for the nine months ended 30 September 2025. In terms of the group’s core business, net interest income was up 63% compared to the same period in 2024 on the back of increased loans and advances to the productive sectors and support to consumer needs,” NMBZ said.
“Core income streams remain resilient, supported by strong growth in loans and deposits, and management continues to prioritise revenue diversification and cost optimisation. The group incurred operating expenditure of ZiG1,1 billion, which was 70% up from the prior year.
“This variance primarily reflects the impact of strategic business re-engineering initiatives undertaken during the year, which included restructuring and staff rationalisation to align operations with the group’s strategic vision.”
The bank incurred a number of one-off costs in the year, which will impact profitability in the short term.
However, these actions are expected to enhance operational efficiency and strengthen the group’s capacity for sustainable growth in the long term, NMBZ said. -newsda
