The First National Bank Botswana hosted a lavish dinner to wine and dine mining industry executives in Francistown over the last week. In a bid to try and respond to the resurgence of the mining industry in Francistown and surrounding areas, and also tap into the resultant business opportunities and forge new relationships with the mining industry, FNBB hosted a dinner for their existing and potential customers from the mining industry.
Giving welcome remarks, FNBB’s head of Mining and Public Sector, Pele Moleta, said that the resurgence of mining activities in and around Francistown has created a niche for the upliftment of living standards and expansion in the city‘s development and FNBB, as a proactive bank, had found it fitting that they avail their services to accommodate the growing mining sector and forge relationships with both the mining industry and its service providers and suppliers.
By hosting the dinner, FNBB was creating a platform for dialogue on issues pertaining to the fast growing mining industry and also offering its services and financial solutions to the mining industry. “The bank is committed to increasing its focus on building and enhancing customer relations by reaching out to existing and potential customers and sharing with them the bank’s value proposition for all products and services,” said Moleta.
FNBB had also invited renowned economist, Keith Jefferies, the Managing Director of Econsult, to give a brief overview of the national and global economic projections for the year ahead. His presentation was followed by a question and answer session as well as comments from members of the business community. At the event, the FNBB sales and marketing staff also took the opportunity to engage customers on a one on one basis as a means of curtailing their products and services for their specific needs.
Giving closing remarks at the ceremony, FNBB Deputy CEO, Dave Wright, said that they recently embarked on an expansion program that saw them opening up new branches in areas like Selibe Phikwe. He also revealed that FNBB would, in the near future, build their second headquarters in Francistown to cater for the needs of their fast growing client base in and around the city.
“The growth of the mining industry poses challenges to service providers to match the speed of growth by delivering quality service. You can rest assured that FNBB as a player in the banking industry is ready to provide services to meet the growing demand,” he said.
Mining industry executives who graced the event included, among others, BCL General Manager Monty Mphati, Thuso Dikgaka of Tati Nickel, James Arthur of African Copper, Frank Wookey of Morupule Colliery, Nhlanhla Sibanda of ANBA Chemicals and Mao Segaga of Botswana Metal Refineries.
