NSSA building society deal ‘almost’ done

Business
A consultant is putting together additional information required by the RBZ to issue out a building society licence to NSSA.

A consultant is putting together additional information required by the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) to issue out a building society licence to the National Social Security Authority (NSSA).

BY NDAMU SANDU

NSSA applied for a building society licence last year and the additional information requested by RBZ is supposed to be submitted by end of the month, NSSA general manager James Matiza told Standardbusiness on Friday.

Matiza could not be drawn into revealing the nature of the additional information required by RBZ which has the final say on all the board members and senior executives before they are appointed by financial institutions.

The proposed name of the new bank will be Social Security Building Society Bank of Zimbabwe.

Plans to set up the bank comes as the authority briefed Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare minister Prisca Mupfumira on Thursday on its plans to set up a bank to cater for the housing needs of contributors among other clients.

Mupfumira was last month appointed to head the ministry following the sacking of Nicholas Goche.

Matiza said while NSSA was already working on housing projects, the rate at which it was going was fairly slow.

“A company like Old Mutual has a building society that has its own management to concentrate on housing development. It is a model that NSSA wants which will have a full team that works on housing provision,” Matiza said.

NSSA partnered FBC Holdings in its housing projects that include Rusike and Glaudina which have 699 stands and 394 stands respectively. NSSA has a 35,12% stake in FBC Holdings, the parent company of FBC Bank.

Between 1994 and 2000, NSSA financed housing projects through building societies’ paid-up-permanent-shares. The authority, through this initiative, developed houses in Chegutu, Shamva, Norton, Kuwadzana in Harare and Cowdray Park in Bulawayo, as well as 22 low-density Woodlands town houses in Bulawayo.

Matiza said NSSA was mandated to provide housing under the economic blueprint, the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (Zim Asset).

According to Zim Asset, government plans to construct 125 000 housing units by 2018.

This would be attained through the provision of housing stands, strengthening of public private- sector partnerships and recapitalisation of the National Housing and National Guarantee Fund, among others.

Matiza said the authority was working with the Ministry of Local Government and National Housing to ensure that NSSA meets the quota it is allocated under the Zim Asset programme.

Other than shareholding in FBC, NSSA has a 37,79% shareholding in ZB Financial Holdings that wholly owns ZB Bank and 10% in CBZ Holdings. It also has controlling shareholding in Rainbow Tourism Group and First Mutual Holdings.

NSSA had an 84% shareholding in Capital Bank which surrendered its operating licence after the authority said it was no longer in a position to financially support the troubled institution.

NSSA had moved into the then ReNaissance Merchant Bank (RMB) as a gateway to First Mutual Holdings.

RMB had 33% in First Mutual Holdings.