Exclusive Interview: Joao Figueiredo, Chairman and CEO, MOZA Banco Mozambique

Joao Figueiredo, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, MOZA Banco Mozambique grants an exclusive interview to Capital Markets in Africa. He shared with us his personal life experiences and leadership style as well as Moza Banco’s latest financial performance and the bank’s long-term strategic plans to maximize profitability. Mr. Joao opined that Mozambique’s banking sector will continue to face pressure on the margins of its operating activities as a result of tight credit growth and the low levels of banking penetration and/or financial inclusion.

Thanks for granting this interview. Please, could you tell our readers more about your background and what motivated your choice of career path, please?

JOAO FIGUEIREDO: My whole life has been dedicated to Banking. Perhaps the fact that my father was a great banker and he has always been my reference in life, so has influenced me to follow his path.

I started in Portugal, where I finished my studies and after a few years working in the branch banking services, and then I stepped into an international banking career. At first, I did an internship at NatWest Bank, London in 1987 and after a few years of experience in Lisbon, I worked as Deputy General Manager and General Manager at the BTA branches in London and Macau.

In 1998, I returned to Mozambique, my homeland, where I worked as Managing Director of Standard Totta Mocambique, and then became the CEO of an Investment Bank – BIM Investimento and Deputy Chairman and CEO of Banco Internacional de Mocambique, the country´s largest bank.

In 2010, with a group of investors, I created a startup bank, the UNICO Bank, which, years later, the NED Bank Group entered its shareholder structure, and is currently the main shareholder.

In 2016, the Central Bank of Mozambique, after undertaking an intervention in one of the largest banks in the country, MOZA BANCO, appointed me as its Chairman in order to manage the institution in a scenario of crisis that it was going through. It was, in fact, a huge challenge that culminated in a financial sanitation operation. This involves injecting capital as well as the entry of a new shareholder. Since then, the MOZA BANCO has undergone a major restructuring not only in terms of its balance sheet and equity structure but also in terms of functional and operational aspects. Today, we can say that MOZA BANCO is on a very positive trajectory occupying its own space in the national financial system and acting in harmony with the best international standards. In our shareholder structure, we now have two reference shareholders, namely, Kuhanha (a national Pension Fund) and Arise (an Equity Fund owned by Norfund, Rabobank, and FMO).

You started talking about MOZA BANCO. Please share with our readers the latest financial results of the MOZA and what are the fundamentals behind these results, please?

JOAO FIGUEIREDO: 2018 was characterized by a difficult economic environment, of contraction, affecting the business sector. Considering the increase in the number of non-performing loans, the financial system was forced to increase its impairments as well as to adopt a much more conservative lending approach.

Despite this economic environment, MOZA BANCO maintained its growth trajectory, with the loan portfolio growing at 20%, giving us a market share of 8.66% (December 2017: 7.42%). The same happened to the deposits, which grew 39%, thus consolidating our fifth position in the ranking of banks operating in the country with a 5.92% share (December 2017: 4.74%).  Associated with this evolution, there is also the opening of two other banking branches (bringing us to 55 branches), the growth in the number of customers (16%) and transactions in direct and self-banking channels.

The favorable evolution of these indicators has resulted in an improved bank’s net profit by 47% compared to 2017, totaling MZN 768 million negatives (December 2017: MZN 1,459 million negatives). It should be noted that during 2018, MOZA BANCO continued to demonstrate an adequate solvency situation, with the solvency ratio at 21.70%, above the regulatory limit of 12%)

An extract from the INTO AFRICA June 2019 Edition: African Banks: Emerging Growth. To read the full article, please download by clicking: INTO AFRICA PUBLICATION: June 2019 EDITION.