Francis Gakanje
CBZ Bank has announced the appointment of Gift Simwaka as its new Managing Director, effective September 1, 2024.
Mr Simwaka brings to the role over 26 years of experience in the financial services sector, with a diverse background in trade and project finance, transaction banking, and regulatory policy formulation.
He began his financial journey in 1993 as an executive trainee at Citi Bank Zambia Limited, and later climbed the ranks to serve as the Country Head of the Financial Institution’s Business Portfolio.
In 1996, Mr Simwaka became part of the Central Bank of Zambia, where he held several roles, including bank examiner, senior manager of payment system regulation and executive assistant to the governor.
His expertise also extended to regional financial institutions, where he held significant positions at the African Trade Insurance Agency (ATI) and the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank). Most recently, he served as an advisor at Faber Capital.
CBZ Holdings Group chief executive officer Lawrence Nyazema said the new MD is an experienced banker with more than 26 years of advancing expertise in financial services, gained through his work with various financial institutions.
He stated that Mr Simwaka’s leadership will be instrumental in steering the bank through its next phase of growth and innovation.
“He brings diverse experience in originating and structuring trade and project finance transactions in Eastern and southern Africa, transaction banking, regulatory policy formulation and financial sector wide analysis and oversight,” he said.
Mr Simwaka holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from the University of Zambia and an MBA in Finance from California State University, Hayward, among other qualifications.
Meanwhile, CBZ Holdings, through its subsidiary, Datvest, has embarked on a US$150 million housing project, Northgate, a mixed-use residential park with 8 000 housing units.
The project, targeted for completion in 18 months to December 2025, has already begun with civil works such as land clearing and roads.
Mr Nyazema said the project had a unique perspective because it is going to have five or six architectural designs that will be rolled out across the entire estate.
“It is going to be a gated community, and an easy example of what we are trying to create here is almost identical to Sandton in South Africa; the only difference is that Northgate is in Harare. So it is an exciting project, and we believe in providing quality housing to Zimbabweans across the globe,” he said.
The housing project is located 17 kilometres north of the Harare central business district and 10 km from Sam Levy’s Village. The project will be carried out in three phases.
