Foreign managers cause havoc at Standard Bank Malawi
All is not well at Standard Bank following the arrival of two foreign managers who are believed to have been yielding too much power than local executive managers although the two managers hold ‘lower’ positions, Nyasa Times understands.
Nyasa Times can reveal that top gurus at Standard Bank South Africa told Malawian managers that none is qualified for the top job of Chief Executive Officer of the bank and that they will continue sending expatriate managers to fill the position.
Soon after the former CEO Andrew Mashanda left, Malawian Temwani Simwaka acted as CEO for a few months until the top gurus at Standard Bank South Afruca brought in William le Roux to be CEO.
Mashanda replaced fellow Zimbabwean Charles Mudiwa as CEO.
Now there are two managers who are coming to Malawi to work at one month intervals and insiders say they do not have good relations with local managers.
“We have Alice Tigris from South Africa who is Credit Manager but she has more powers than the Head of Credit here in Malawi and the way she works is not good, she keeps shouting at local Malawian mangers as if they are kids, it’s pathetic,” said the source.
“Another one is Elizabeth Wasunna from Kenya who is a Business Banking Manager but wields too much power than the head of business department. These people have not yet applied for permits, so they just come for a month and go back and come again and when they are in the country, its fire, people are not happy at all and I feel sorry for our Malawian executive managers who are also being bullied as if they are not bosses,” added the source.
It is believed that most of Malawian executive managers are frustrated as it is the same managers who report them to the bank gurus in South Africa.
“It is high time our country stand up to these abuses, we have well qualified people who can run this bank but we are always being overlooked, maybe because we give too much respect to these people,” added another employee who did not want to be named.
Of all the top banks in the country, it is only National Bank of Malawi which is being headed by a Malawian, Mac Fussy Kawawa, the rest have foreign CEOs.
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AMAOPA CASHGATE AMALAWI SAOPA KUBA
Elizabeth Wassuna is so beautiful, look at her smile. The real banker who can heal customers’ wounds in the banking hall. Enanu mu bank mukationa olo moni, kukhala ngati tikudzapemha ndalama koma ziri zathu zomwe
I don’t see whats the problem. Standard Bank is an international company, thus it can afford to bring in expatriates as managers when the local performance is not good. I’m a Standard Bank customer, but when I walk in to any Standard Bank branch, I can only see long queues and inefficient service. Its good that expat can come and train Malawian managers how to improve their skills. This is all about profit for the business as a whole. The complaints you are seeing here are due to corruption. I can’t even understand why this story should be on a newspaper. Its normal part of a business.
Malawian bosses are lazy and thieves. Look at how NBS Bank was brought down by the same Malawian thieving bosses who give loans to their mafia friends and girlfriends. Look at how Malawian finance directors are siphoning funds. Its better to employ a foreigner who is committed to the bank’s mission than those who pursue individual agenda. Those who feel intelligent and sidelined should go and open their own banks like what Mpinganjira did. If Temwani Simwaka was confirmed I tell you the whole Standard Bank would have been tumbukaised in no time at all.
Mr. San Banda has put it correctly that: “I don’t see whats the problem. Standard Bank is an international company, thus it can afford to bring in expatriates as managers when the local performance is not good”. And would add that it is doubtful that “tumbukanisation” would have happen at Standard Bank. Malawians from the north are very conscious of this act of employing a person from one of their ethnic grouping. They know that people elsewhere look at them with disdain because of that issue.
Standard Bank is an international bank where one’s recruitment or appointment does not dwell much on one’s ethnicity. Besides, they never colour appointments with specific tribes while overlooking at one’s ability to perform the tasks at hand. In such institutions, competition for posts is stiff and is meshed with merit.. If two or four people from the same region have done well during recruitment, they are duly picked to start work. But in an institution operated by local Malawians that cannot happen. Noise is bound to occur while eschewing tribe calling. These acts by their nature are indicative of a country that has been destined to forge enmity between one tribe on one side and several others on the other. I stand to be corrected.
Its the issue of std bank. Just sort out your own mess at the bank rather than crying for public attention
We will just assist you in prayers. We just talking, what their qualifications and year of experience so that we can establish a sense of logic?
Fact is, we as Malawian customers see a leaned back attitude when it comes to employees, especially in Banks and public offices! Fact is, that the productivity of a labour force , starting from a CEO (look at our President) up to casual labourer is one of the lowest in the world!
Banker, let’s hope you can add 5 and 5 together! If you want to work for a international player like Standard Bank, unfortunately you have to perform! If not, the foreigner will eat you.. mean your job!
Tangopitani pa Lizulu mukagule chitedze kwa mkulu wogulitsa gondolosi uja mukawapake pokhalirapo.
Malawians, let us listen carefully to the cry of our fellow Malawians. The name of the new CEO sounds like he was there at Standard Bank sometime back. Phillip Madinga and Paul Guta were far much better than him. I hope he is not the same guy.
The bank has been frustrating Malawians. Apart from the two I have mentioned above, William Chatsala was also frustrated there. If it is their policy that the locals should not head the bank, can they tells how many Malawians are CEOs of this bank and in which countries?
Please Home Affairs do not issue permits to these people. So long as there are similar skills let us ban importation of CEOs. Any permit granted must have conditions that the institution must train the locals to take over within a specified period.
Guys fight for your rights there at Standard Bank, we are with you. If they do not change then we will be banking with National Bank, FDH and FMB; Malawian owned banks. We will also be banking with Nedbank, CDH; foreign banks headed by Malawians. This is in line with the buy Malawi policy!!!
Bring another expatriate to deal with long queues with only 2 tellers working. That is what Malawian managers are giving us. Most banks have advanced technologically mo626, mobile banking etc but standard bank is still in the dark ages. Bring another expatriate who.will shout at them.at the top of his/ her voice.
Just stand up against your bosses. Thats an internal issue just like your supper high salaries are your individual and organisational issue. No reason to rally all Malawians to stand up against the said bosses. Tasovani zimenezo komweko.
Malawians are to learn a lot from Kenyans – aggressiveness to maintain customers/clients, available to service, innovativeness etc. Do not complain, just do your best… maintain positive attitude all will be fine.
Most commercial banks are sleeping in Malawi. They are taking Malawians for a ride. Long queeus with only 2 tellers. Ma tellers ambiri mwano m’mabankimu. We need foreign to come and change things. If not comfortable with them, just resign and start farming.
After cash gate, there is very little we as a country can do unless we take serious to stamp out this malpractice.
But with parliament also acting the way it is with out impunity, there is no way a foreign owned institution can trust us to run it.
As a nation, we have to show we are serious and mean business. Not the current attitude we are showing.
I am extremely concerned.
I cannot agree more with Concerned Citizen
Improve your approach towards work. Ukapanda Chala osamadana ndikuloza. Attitude of service from some Malawian managers zero. E-Mail no response. Kuiwala kuti customer is king. Loan kufuna %. Ukhale ndi ndalama ayambe kupempha loan from you. This story sounds like a frustrated acting CEO. Your time will come. Be patient.
The writer need to know that foreign owned companies are permitted to bring a limited number of key staff. Companies bring foreigners or expatriates to bring in expertise which local staff may not have. Note that local managers cannot have more powers the bank than their key regional staff. That will not happen! Local staff are junior to managers working at regional level even the position title could be the same… There are also lots of Malawian expatriates in other countries and they are not treated in this way as we do. These kind of issues are advanced by individuals who do not add any value to the company. This story is trash fit for the dustbin!!
Hahaha this is trash. We all know the truth…cashgate. Kuba.
Standard bank is the worst bank in Malawi.
The best is FMB FMB FMB..there is no colour bar or racial segregation at FMB. That is why you see many brown skinned bankers there. It has toilets esp Limbe Branch. They employ beautiful girls too.
Fuck off Std Bank..viva FMB
What is the complaint here
That Malawi jobs are taken by expatriates or that they are maltreated by expatriates or that expatriates are non eligible to work in Malawi?
Don’t complain that a friend is a good dancer just cause you don’t know the rythym so the say goes in west africa
Understand the ryrhym may be you may as well dance better….
These are foreign owned banks and the shareholders would naturally trust people they have worked with already somewhere. Its not about qualifications but ability to earn the trust of the owners. Mind you that after cashgate, our reputation as Malawians is so bad and every foreign investor would prefer bring in someone they know that leave the investment in the hands of a society that has a dented reputation. Nigeria has the highest number of graduates in Africa and almost every foreign company there has an expat CEO.
Quality of Malawian managers at the bank leaves a lot to be desired. Koma kukonda kugulitsana nyumba za ma client at cheap rates. Even their English is spoken in chichewa. Dressing nanji akapoli eni eni. The brains is slow.
The state of our economy (GDP) & again how many multi-national companies have we produced as a country since indepedence. We remain an increasingly inward focused nation in this age of globalisation. So multinational entities will look at these among other factors whether to hire locally or import expatriates.
We Malawians are very lazy. We can’t compete on the world stage. Senior managers can’t submit monthly returns on time. Their performance is below acceptable standards. Thats why we are the poorest country in the world. Where is the hard working spirit we used to be known for?
Can standard bank head office in south Africa really send a Malawian as CEO to…..say Zambia? With the work ethics we show? Lazy as we are?
I cry for mother Malawi.
A Malawi simugwira ntchito molimbikira. Koma busy kupanga ana a DNA ya azanu. Most sex scandals in Malawi are from Banks, list them and you will agree.
Vuto lanu amalawi u just rush to get higher paper qualifications while compence muli pa zero and think your employers will act like father chrismass. Learn to build your competence as well akupasani maudindo mukulirilawa.
This is not entirely true because Nedbank(a foreign bank is headed by Paul Guta(A Malawian). Get your facts straight bra/sis
A Malawi timakonda kuphunzila kwambiri komanso maudindo koma kulephera kufikapo peni peni polumikizana sukulu, udindo ndi nchito zapaundipo. Ntchito za mma company akunjawa zimafunika mzeru, changu, kuchangamuka, mphamvu, luso lapatali, kudziwa zomwe zikuchitika kudzikoku, pomwe ife kuno ambiri timangokonda kulandila ma benefits apa udindo ndi kutchedwa bwana. No wonder mwana wamwenye ndi mzungu olo atakhala ndi certificate yomweyi can easily be bwana ndi zinthu mkumaziyendesa using basic logic.
It is not only at Standard Bank with that problem but the rest of companies in Malawi mainly whose ownership belongs to foreigners. We have General Managers and Financial Controllers whose qualification is a bachelors degree but because they have white skins they hold those positions. Some Indians also hold positions in some companies while they dont have any papers and yet our Immigration Departments issue them with work permits. One good example is Farmers World Group of Companies with such kind of managers and some whose roles are clerical but get expatriate conditions of service. We complain of unemployment in Malawi yet the govt seems relaxed on some of these issues. Our friends in Mozambique and in RSA are not allowing this, thats why many BOERs are in this country enjoying coz of their skins only. We seem not to love our country.
oh oh
Mailosi,
That is typical Malawian mentality that thinks that because you have more advanced papers then you should hold senior positions. Papers do not equate having the competencies which companies need in the market place. In stead of investing in the accumulation of papers, and Malawi has a lot of papers, perhaps we should spend time acquiring business competencies and skills that are required for companies to grow. Business owners want to make money.
Faiti stop destabilising the banking sector by pocking your nose into this sector as you always do with local parastatals. Recently you embarked on the same with MACRA. What typee of journalism is this? Not each and every hearsay is worth publishing!
managers from hell! kkkkkkkkk
Malawian CEOs much as they may be well educated & qualified, they lack integrity and often times they display very low moral values and in the process they produce mediocre results
The issue here is not being a Malawian national or being a Foreigner but the ability and competence. Those foreigners investments or companies have their operations and need benefits. I don’t see why should we complain much once there is a CEO from Kenya or Zimbabwe heading a foreigner company, let us have enough money to invest locally in competition with those foreigners investors and create jobs to ourselves.
You mean after 52 years of independence the country does not have qualified men and women to take up the position of CEOs in Malawian banks? What is the role of our universities in the banking sector? Wake up Malawi! We are sleeping on job in our country…….Shame!!!
Nchifukwa chake tanzanu timasungitsa ndarama zathu ku a wholly owned Malawian bank – nationalbank of Malawi.
In this age of social networking, simply spread the the word. No banking at standard bank.
Don’t fight with them, you may simply end up spoiling the good image of our country abroad.
Just put Chitedze on their chairs. They will all go and no one will come to Malawi in future. Mukuwapusitsa kwambiri that is why you will suffer humiliation in public
Chitedze chinatha alhomwe analichita deforest dziko lonse achimwene.
Foreign investment comes with its own opportunities and challenges. Standard Bank Group has a majority shareholding in Standard Bank Malawi hence the need to ensure that the corporate culture for the local bank is consistent with the group. The appointment of a foreign CEO and key executives is reflective of Standard Bank Group culture, where Africans are deployed within their Africa franchise no matter where the skill comes from. However, the downside is that sometimes cultures within the continent aren’t the same, especially when it comes respect for each other and boundary definition. Typical Malawi corporates operate on hierarchical and most patriarchal structures; sometimes with seniority defined by age. Malawi isn’t also known for speed and respect for time, at least in the corporate environment; this may just be frustrating for expatriates. Malawi cannot wish expatriates away, unless we want to kiss foreign investment goodbye, which means we won’t have employment to talk of. On the other hand, Malawi employees really need to introspect quite deeply, on how it operates within the context of the modern (corporate) world. We seem to be behind the curve when it comes to speed, agility, sense of urgency, customer service, hunger for business etc; these are ingredients for a successful organisation and yet we find ourselves wanting in these areas. let’s appraise ourselves on a regular basis for fitness to operate in a global organisation or environment. Malawi has very skilled and highly educated people but may lack exposure to working for big corporates especially in light of the fact that Malawi’s GDP (size of the economy) is equivalent to revenue of a medium or large company in South Africa or Nigeria.
Only Bingu realised that Malawi has potential in almost everything
Having well qualified people is one thing and being competent to deliver is another. This is why foreigners are coming to take up influential positions. Malawians must prove that they can do the job , even better than foreigners. This is how Kenyans do if they want to boot out foreigners – they don’t use a qualification as a yardstick but ability to deliver the goods.
Absolutely. At this stage we need to learn as much as we can from those that are excelling in operating in the global village. Panama we just have to admit that we haven’t stepped up to the global corporate culture, hence our low ranking in global (economic) matrix. The fact that US heads of state and its leaders, only visit countries like Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia etc does tell us a clear story. These are countries that have economic potential with a lot to offer the world. Malawi is considered not only poor economically but that its people are casual, slow, have less hunger for business, narrow-minded etc (painful but true), although there are pockets of very educated and skilled people. Unfortunately our leaders are not exemplary in their behaviour. They’re very satisfied with mediocrity. None of them are visiting any of the neighbouring or SADC countries, to collaborate on developmental initiatives. Amangokhala phwiii m’ma state house……only visiting its people to puke lies upon lies. Let’s just change our attitude and work hard/smarter for the benefit of the country. Malawi@Crossroads
I do not understand the whole complaint. Learn how others work, you will add more skill than this empty complaint.
So Malawian so called Local Bank Managers, you are complaining? For what? I cant sympathise with you No Sir/Madam, not me!!! I didnt know there are managers at Std bank. You happily subject clients to very harsh conditions as if you dont know that Malawians have rights. Innocent pipo stand on long quees for hours in a building without toilets for clients but you have own toilets yourselves. So STD Bank has Managers? You reward yourself with the so called Annual awards for what?? Torturing innocent Malawians. If you feel humiliated by outsiders just quit, tione mmene musambwidzikire pa town pano. You dont love your fellow people. May be these outsiders will bring change to innocent account holders, otherwise I am happy we have new outside managers. I wish you stayed for years and bring change for the love of your log time clients.
Am not surprised at this all. This why a Standard Bank cheque to Standard bank account takes 2 days to clear while at National Bank it’s just hours. Moving backwards
However, we as Malawians are failing in many fields a big time. We fail to display that we can be trusted.