Business Banking, a division of Nedbank Corporate servicing medium-sized businesses, has shown a strong commitment to black economic empowerment (BEE) with the national roll-out of its empowerment strategy — driven by Portia Nondo, head of BEE at Business Banking.
Nedbank Corporate is financial services group Nedcor’s wholly-owned subsidiary.
Nondo said Business Banking views BEE as an important business opportunity, and not just a compliance issue.
“We view it as an opportunity to provide value to new clients and to retain our existing clients that are looking to become BEE compliant,” she noted.
With a strategic vision to be the premier business banker for BEE transactions by 2008, the division sees itself playing a key role in meeting Nedcor’s empowerment financing targets through BEE transactions and small- and medium-term enterprises financing.
To date, the division has funded substantial empowerment deals across various industry sectors. The funding has included mainly working capital financing and the funding of BEE equity.
In addition to a BEE specialist team at head office headed by Nondo, 17 regional empowerment managers have been appointed. These managers who are passionate about BEE business will ensure that BEE receives adequate focus in each region through the successful regional execution of the black empowerment strategy.
“The financial solutions offered in the division will include debt financing for BEE equity, franchise financing, asset financing and procurement financing. These solutions will require specific skills and expertise that we believe we do have and are constantly being developed in order to remain relevant to our clients,” Nondo said.
“Ultimately, our goal is to make a difference to our clients by working in partnership with them in providing an innovative approach to dealing with BEE transactions.” — I-Net Bridge