Tetrad secures $15m credit line

Published: 24 October 2013

Financial group, Tetrad, has secured a $15 million line of credit from a United Kingdom-based fund.

The firm said the funds will be channelled towards strengthening operations of its subsidiaries, with its flagship unit, Tetrad Investment Bank (TIB), allocated the biggest share.

"The funds come as a welcome boost to the company given the liquidity challenges that the economy is experiencing," the group's chief executive Eugene Mlambo said, adding that "other lines of credit are presently at various stages of negotiation."

He said the funds "will strengthen the bank as it goes through its conversion process from merchant to commercial bank".

The group recently said it is yet to get a licence from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to transform its investment bank into a commercial entity.

It applied for the commercial banking license in 2011.

Christina Muchekeza, Tetrad's marketing head, told businessdaily that the group was preparing for the launch of the commercial bank.

"Our application for a commercial banking licence is still pending at the reserve bank but we are renovating buildings and opening new branches not only at Samora Machel but also at Arundel Office Park, Mutare and Kwekwe," she said.

Muchekeza noted that the group had also embarked on an information and communication technology exercise aimed at aligning the bank with international trends.

"In the meantime we are deploying intelligent teller machines (ITMs).

"This is a new core banking platform which incorporates mobile banking, Internet banking and a whole array of value-added services as well as few points of representation in preparation for this transition," she said.

The ITMs offer clients advanced features such as deposit taking capability with real time account credit, and more unique functions will be added soon.

The bank has also started increasing its footprint by completing an impressive renovation of the Arundel branch, which will be followed by the opening of the new Samora Machel and Mutare branches.

Tetrad is a Zimbabwe-based organisation with interests in the financial services, insurance, property, mining and other areas of commerce.

The group comprises TIB, an asset management unit TFS Management Company, a micro finance company Multridge Finance, and THI Insurance.

It is also into real estate through Tetrad Properties and resources.
- dailynews

Tags: Tetrad,