FOCUS Financial Services Zambia Limited lists on LuSE

13/06/2014

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FOCUS Financial Services Zambia Limited has issued K400 million Medium Term Note Programme (MTNP) on the Lusaka Stock Exchange (LuSE), making it the highest undertaking by a micro-finance company at the stock market.
Out of the K400 million listed on LuSE, K100 million had already been raised under tranche 1.
Company managing director, George Mubipe said the programme tranched over a period of three years.
Mr Mubipe said all the capital would be injected in to a greatly underserved SME financing sector adding that the company was strategically positioned to reduce the gap for the SMEs with working capital products.
“Collateral or rather the lack of it has been a huge stumbling block to accessing working capital finance for small business,” he said.
Focus Financial Services which was incorporated in Zambia as a private limited liability company in July 2008 provides short term working capital financing SMEs through invoice discounting, order and bridge financing.
Speaking at the listing of the K400 million MTNP at LuSE yesterday, Mr Mubipe said his firm had lent out more than K700 million over the past four years to the SMEs segment.
“We remain excited about the immense possibilities ahead and look forward to the next tranche of our capital raising efforts to serve more of the 15,000 registered SMEs in Zambia,” he said.
The company projects to disburse K900 million by December 2014.
Earlier, Secretary to the Treasury Fredson Yamba said the subscribing of the Focus Financial Services first tranche of K100 million signifies the level of confidence in the Zambian economy.
“The Zambian SME sector is a sleeping giant on which the success of our growth and poverty reduction agenda hugely depends on,” he said.
Mr Yamba said the listing showcases the operations of an active capital market that creates a platform for different ways of raising capital by the local companies.
LuSE chairperson Friday Ndhlovu said about K5 billion worth of MTNP had been recorded on the exchange markets.