Good governance & social impact
Responsible lending and making a positive impact.
Good governance & social impact
Responsible lending and making a positive impact
Access to responsible lending
Izwe Africa Group is committed to good business practice. By incorporating customer protection principles into every level of our operations, we are building a positive, more customer-focused business with a stronger portfolio and enhanced returns.
We are fully transparent in our pricing, as well as in our terms. Responsible financial inclusion means that we use respectful collection practices and adopt high ethical standards in our treatment of customers.
We ensure that customer data remains private and have committed to the Customer Protection Principles because we strongly believe that responsible financial inclusion protects customers, businesses and the industry.
By weaving these principles into every level of our business, we ensure that we have a solid foundation on which to build strong, lasting relationships, increase customer retention and reduce financial risk. Our investment criteria and due diligence processes are contributing to a healthier, more customer-focused industry that will encourage stronger investment portfolios and strengthen financial returns.
Our compliance framework
Izwe has embedded a culture of compliance to enable sustainable value for all stakeholders, as, in the end, compliance is about ensuring a trust relationship with our clients.
Our activities are guided by the governance framework of ethics, codes of conduct, policies and commitment to legal compliance. We have adopted a group wide Environmental, Social & Corporate Governance Policy that conforms to international standards. Izwe has also achieved a both a Social Rating and SMART certification, both of which indicate our commitment to putting the correct measures in place to safeguarding our clients.
Izwe’s Code of Conduct affirms our commitment to maintaining high ethical standards, as well as the responsibility of each employee to protect the reputation of the company. The Code sets high expectations of what we stand for, what we believe in and how we put our values in action across the organisation.
What sets us apart from other institutions is our ability to develop and maintain mutually beneficial long-term business relationships with our customers and our partners.
Operations in our individual jurisdictions are fully compliant with all central bank requirements, as well as all relevant rules and regulations as publicly listed companies in each country where we operate.
Environmental,
Social and Governance (ESG) policy
We’re not “box tickers” when it comes to our approach to ESG implementation, nor do we believe in a one-size-fits-all model.
We maintain that ESG factors are critical in assessing the long-term sustainability and value of an organisation and its business activities. The integration of ESG factors into our lending activities is a smart move that will ultimately lead to increased value and lower risk for customer portfolios.
As long-term investors, it’s important that we pay full consideration to the impact of environmental and social issues, and to ensure that our business maintains high standards of corporate governance in this respect.
We believe companies cannot achieve sustainable economic success if their social and environmental responsibilities are neglected. Social responsibility has the potential to increase the quality of an enterprise’s earnings stream and consequently its long-term investment potential.
As such, we are strongly committed to being transparent in our reporting of
activities and progress towards implementing this ESG policy, regularly reporting back to customers on how we fulfil our responsibilities in terms of their mandates.
Education is the foundation of economic development and social advancement. Investment in education improves human capital, increases productivity and one’s standard of living.
It is proven that countries with a high population percentage of uneducated or low quality education find it difficult to considerably increase their GDP and improve their standard of living.
It is with this that Izwe has chosen to support initiatives that will ultimately have an impact of advancing education, enhancing learning facilities and supporting teachers and educators in order to make a lasting contribution to the development of the communities in which it operates. To date this has been achieved via our bursary schemes, sponsorships, donations and cultural events that have a focus on learning and education.
Following much research and collaboration with the Ministries of Education, National Scholarship Secretariats and Social Welfare the “Izwe Public Sector Tertiary Education Scholarship Fund” launched in 2012 and continue to run today in both Ghana and Zambia.
Children of public sector employees with a true financial need can apply, and funds are awarded to selected high school graduates with excellent grades. The bursary pays for the full cost of tertiary studies at a university of choice. Izwe’s intention is to develop knowledge and capabilities of young people and to empower them to drive the development and growth of their countries.
All applications are independently screened and review by Antal International Network, with final recommendations present to The Scholarship Selection Board.
To date 54 students have received support with 37 having graduated.