FNB Mozambique (FNBM) inaugurates today, April 26th, its new facilities at Baía Mall shopping centre, on Marginal Avenue, in Maputo.
The ceremony will be attended by the Planning and Finance councillor of the Maputo City Council, Eduardo Nguenha, the Kamaxaquene district councillor, Isilda Zandamela, and the managing director of FNB Mozambique, Peter Blenkinsop, as well as other personalities of the Mozambican society.
Nancy Mafundza, Retail Director of FNB Mozambique, spoke to the DE about the importance of the opening of this branch and placed it in the context of the bank’s expansion strategy.
In what aspect is the opening of this new branch in a prime area of the capital aligned with FNB’s new strategy which began a little over two years ago?
The opening of the branch reinforces our strategy of providing an increasingly better experience for our customers and partners. This branch is actually the relocation of our previous space, located in Alto-Maé, as we saw the need to have a channel with better conditions for our customers. This is also an opportunity to align our image, experience and customer service with the other subsidiaries of the FNB group. We are in a process of digitalisation and simplification of our channels, to give more and more autonomy to customers. To our Private segment customers, we offer a dedicated space within this branch.
Is there a prospect, or plan, to open more branches in the near future?
We are currently ensuring that all our branches are modernised, properly equipped and prepared to serve our customers as best as possible. To this end, we have started the process of relocating and rehabilitating some branches. The next phase will be to plan the expansion of our presence in other provinces of the country. But the focus now is to ensure that we respond, in terms of service and quality, to the customer.
This is Mozambican Women’s Month. It is inevitable to ask you how you see this gender issue in the financial area, and the role of women in general in Mozambican society?
I believe I can give this answer in two ways. The presence of women in financial services in general: there have always been women bankers, but now we are seeing them increasingly in leadership positions, which means that there is a new paradigm. On the other hand, women have a very relevant role in managing financial resources and often without any (formal) education. They are the ones who manage how the monthly income is allocated in their homes. And I won’t even mention the fact that we have many women who are the main provider in their families, and many, besides having a formal job, have a separate business. Working in the financial sector, I can understand how women manage their money and often do it better than men, they always think about saving and investing. In short, women have a fundamental role in boosting the financial sector in the country.
