Zambia’s Investrust Bank recorded a K60 billion growth in assets, according to bank managing director, Friday Ndhlovu.  Investrust Bank’s total asset growth has reached K60 billion in the last 12 months, rising to K466 billion last month and up from K408 billion recorded during the same period last year.

2009 has been an active year thus far for Investrust, which has opened up new branches in Livingstone, Lusaka Industrial, Lusaka International Airport and Lumwana.  Ndhlovu noted that the bank was encouraged by the economic expansion which was being experienced in urban and rural areas outside the line of rail, especially the Copperbelt and North-Western provinces, and that the ground breaking investment by Lumwana Mine, which included development of an entire town from scratch, offered immense opportunities to businesses, the Lumwana community and its surrounding areas.  “Our goal has always been to bring affordable banking services and products closer to the Zambian public,” Ndhlovu said.

Finally, Ndhlovu urged the Government “not to relent” in implementing policies to mitigate the effects of the global credit crunch, which has had a significant bearing on the nation’s economy (see Zambia All Share index below, charting the past five years).

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