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Mungunda to step down as Standard Bank CEO

Mungunda to step down as Standard Bank CEO

Standard Bank Namibia’s Vetumbuavi Mungunda will step down as the Chief Executive and leave the SBN Holdings Group with effect from 1 May 2021, according to an announcement made on Thursday.

The Boards of SBNHoldings and Standard Bank Namibia said this advance notice will allow for a well-planned, smooth transition process and sufficient time for a suitable candidate to be found and to support an orderly transition.

Under Vetumbuavi’s leadership, SBN Holdings grew from N$319 million of earnings in 2013 to N$614 million in 2019, while total assets grew from N$20.2 billion in 2013 to N$35 billion in 2019. The group completed a 25% localisation of its shareholding in November 2019 which formed an integral part of the group’s successful listing on the Namibia Stock Exchange.

Herbi Maier, Chairman of the Board, said, “Vetumbuavi has to date been our CEO for the past 6 years and has provided outstanding leadership, strategic direction and vision through very difficult and challenging times, including 4 consecutive years of recession as well as a period in which he had to complete and embed a complex core banking system implementation and other regulatory projects of significant importance to the bank. He has also been a key driver of the listing of SBN Holdings on the Namibian Stock Exchange, in that way broadening the shareholder base in the country. You can add COVID-19 to the list of challenges. His determination and focus on the delivery of agreed strategic initiatives, including the repositioning of the bank and his passionate drive for digital innovation, were exemplary.”

Vetumbuavi Mungunda, said: “I have thoroughly enjoyed my 6 years at Standard Bank, and I am particularly proud of the great strides we have made in completing the core banking system implementation, the localisation of the group and in particular the allocation of shares to our close to 2,000 employees who own 8% in the group. The success of our Buy-a-Brick initiative, which has built close to 500 low-cost houses across the country, will always be the highlight of my time at Standard Bank. I also have a sense of pride at the young, diverse, dynamic leadership that I leave in charge of the group.”

“I sincerely believe that 7 years at the helm of a company is a natural inflection point for a new professional challenge. I leave the group both financially and operationally in a much stronger position and at an extremely exciting time in its development. I am looking forward to new opportunities and challenges, and while these will be outside of Standard Bank, I am fully convinced of the group’s prosperous future and intend to remain the Number One supporter,” added Mungunda.

“We are sad to see him leave and sincerely wish him the very best for the future. We are, however, grateful that he has laid a strong foundation for sustainable growth which allows us to seek a Chief Executive to lead the business through its next phase of growth,” concluded the Chairman.

Meanwhile, the board said, it will commence a process to appoint a successor to Mungunda and a further announcement will be made in due course.


 

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