Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) has approved Centenary Rural Development Group Limited of Uganda and the Catholic Archdiocese of Lilongwe to acquire MyBucks Banking Corporation (Malawi) Limited.

In a statement jointly signed by MyBucks Malawi board chairperson Francis Pelekamoyo, Centenary Group chairperson Professor John Ddumba-Ssentamu and Archbishop of Lilongwe Archdiocese the Most Reverend George Desmond Tambala, the registrar of financial services said the approval was granted on December 23 2022.

Reads the statement in part: “With the approval, Centenary Group becomes the bank’s new majority shareholder and the bank becomes Centenary Group’s fourth subsidiary.”

Following the approval, Centenary Group will now own a 51 percent stake and the Archdiocese of Lilongwe 49 percent. Centenary Group is a limited liability company and holding company of Centenary Bank Uganda, the largest commercial microfinance bank in that country. It also has two other subsidiaries, Centenary Foundation and Centenary Technology Services Limited.

Co-signed the statement: Pelekamoyo

The statement said the unique combination of the bank’s new shareholders will enable it to deliver on its financial inclusion agenda and reach out to the unbanked people nationwide to change their lives and contribute to the achievement of the Malawi 2063, the country’s long-term development strategy.

The board submitted the final binding offer in October this year, three months after conducting due diligence on the bank.

In December 2021, the bank’s parent company MyBucks S.A. was placed on bankruptcy and prior to the bankruptcy order, it was in the process of disposing of its 100 percent shareholding in MyBucks Malawi to a strategic investor with the support of RBM.

In July this year, Pelekamoyo said the bank was closing in on a new investor.

He said the new investorwould be vetted after the due diligence, and approved as a shareholder of MyBucks Banking Corporation by the registrar of financial institutions in line with the financial services laws.

RBM has been working with MyBucks S.A. to identify a strategic investor following the bankruptcy order.

Despite the bankruptcy of its parent company, MyBucks Malawi continued to operate normally in line with the Banking Act, with its local operations not impacted.

RBM licensed MyBucks Malawi on May 13 2014 and started its operations on July 24 2015.

The bank was 100 percent owned by MyBucks S.A, whose head office is in Luxembourg and listed on the Börse Frankfurt Stock Exchange.

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