Zimbabwe News Update
herald
7 min read
Zimpapers OnlineSTANBIC Bank Zimbabwe recently hosted its inaugural Blue on Green Sustainability Forum aimed at raising awareness on sustainability and the entity’s pivotal role in shaping Zimbabwe and Africa’s sustainable future.The forum, which ran under the theme: “Shaping Africa’s Sustainable Future”, brought together thought leaders, regulators and industry experts to come up with impactful solutions for Zimbabwe and Africa’s pressing sustainability challenges.Stanbic Bank chief executive Mr Solomon Nyanhongo said the conference marked a significant milestone for the Standard Bank Group subsidiary as it provided a platform for key stakeholders to discuss how they can shape a more sustainable and resilient future for Zimbabwe and for Africa.“The Blue on Green Forum was born from a simple but powerful realisation — that sustainability is a shared journey,” he said.“None of us has all the answers.
The challenges we face — climate risk, energy transition, food security, and social inclusion — require collaboration, innovation, and continuous learning.”He said the conference was a platform for listening, learning, and leading for all stakeholders involved.Mr Nyanhongo reflected on 2025, saying the year has been a pivotal chapter in the bank’s journey towards sustainability.“As we often say, Zimbabwe is our home, and we drive her growth.
That statement has never felt more relevant,” he said.“It underpins how we invest, how we serve, and how we measure success — not only in financial terms but also in social and environmental positive impact.”Acting Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) Governor, Dr Jesimen Chipika said the conference’s theme resonated well with the current global momentum — where sustainability is now a strategic priority and key driver of innovation and operational resilience in the financial sector.Dr Chipika said the central bank has embraced sustainability in its entirety for financial services players to the extent that it has rolled out a model of the sustainability standards and certification initiative (SSCI) in the banking sector.She said the RBZ took a strategic and decisive step to engender sustainability in the financial sector in 2017 when it joined and introduced the Zimbabwean financial sector to SSCI spearheaded by the European Organization for Sustainable Development (EOSD), based in Germany.“Through a Central Bank-led model, the Reserve bank has facilitated the participation of 19 financial institutions in the SSCI framework (of which Stanbic Bank Zimbabwe is also a participant), with one (1) of our banking institutions having been certified in September 2025,” she said.Standard Bank Group Head of sustainability, Ms Boitumelo Sethlatswe, said the conference was a signal of the group’s committment to sustainability, not just in principle, but in practice.Ms Sethlatswe said the Group was determined to make sustainability practical, accessible and actionable for all businesses across Africa.She said sustainability is now a strategic comparative, to find how the institution grows, how it invests as well as defining how it leads, driven by prevailing challenges such climate change, rising inequalities in the societies, energy, insecurity, in accessibility, and the urgent need to build resilient future economies across the continent.“These challenges are here and at Standard Bank, we have really tried to embrace this challenge,” she said.“Sustainability is embedded in our strategy, it’s embedded in how we govern, it’s embedded in our operations.
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