StanChart Zim appoints new chairman

STANDARD Chartered Bank Zimbabwe Limited (StanChart Zim) has appointed Herbert Mashanyare as the new board chairperson, replacing Samuel Mushiri who retired, NewsDay Business can report.

His appointment is with effect from February 29, 2024.

“Mashanyare is an accomplished former mining executive who worked for a number of mining companies to become an executive director at Mimosa Mining Company (Private) Limited, a position he held until his retirement in 2014,” the statement read in part.

“Prior to his appointment as chairman, Mashanyare had illustriously served on the current board of the bank as an independent non-executive director and as the chairman of the board credit committee since April 2017.”

He also served on the board audit committee and briefly on the board risk committee of the bank. Mashanyare holds BSc, MPhil and MSc degrees.

“As an astute corporate leader, we are very confident that Mashanyare’s depth of expertise, experience and knowledge will propel the Bank to future growth and prosperity,” the bank said.

Mushiri served as an independent non-executive director of the bank since 2014 and was then appointed board chairman in March 2022.

The appointment of Mashanyare coincides with the FBC Holdings Limited’s finalisation of its acquisition of StanChart Zimbabwe, which will elevate the bank to the status of one of the nation’s largest banks.

The deal had been approved by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the Competition and Tariff Commission.

In April 2022, StanChart Zim’s former British-headquartered parent company, Standard Chartered PLC, announced plans to fully divest from its Angola, Cameroon, Gambia, Jordan, Lebanon, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe operations, as it was facing growing costs in those markets.

In Zimbabwe, these costs were associated with a volatile currency, leading to an inflationary environment.

In June last year, FBCHL first made the announcement of its intention to acquire StanChart.-newsday