The Catholic Archdiocese of Lilongwe has partnered with Centenary Rural Development Group Limited of Uganda to buy 100 percent shareholding in MyBucks Banking Corporation (Malawi), it has emerged.

A statement issued on Tuesday by the bank’s board of directors and jointly signed with Archbishop George Desmond Tambala of the Catholic Archdiocese of Lilongwe said the consortium has submitted a final binding offer to acquire the stake.

Co-signed the statement: Tambala

Reads the statement in part: “MyBucks board of directors would like to inform its valued customers and the public that the potential investor, a consortium of two institutions namely Centenary Rural Development Group Limited from Uganda and the Catholic Archdiocese of Lilongwe, has submitted a final binding offer to acquire 100 percent shareholding in the bank.”

The statement jointly signed by Tambala, MyBucks Banking Corporation Malawi board chairperson Francis Pelekamoyo and Centenary Group chairperson John Ddumba-Ssentamu indicated that the submission of the final binding offer comes after three months of conducting due diligence on the bank.

Tambala on Tuesday refused to comment on the matter, saying the Archdiocese Vicar General Father Patrick Thawale was better placed to comment. However, he did not pick up the calls on several attempts.

If the deal goes through, the Archdiocese of Lilongwe will be the first religious body to own a financial institution in the country.

The archdiocese’s partner in the consortium, Centenary Rural Development Group Limited, which owns 100 percent of Centenary Bank of Uganda, is the largest microfinance bank in that country founded by the Catholic Church in Uganda in 1985 to serve the rural poor and make a meaningful contribution to the socio-economic development status.

In July this year, Pelekamoyo said the bank was closing in on a new investor after the bank’s parent company, MyBucks S.A., faced bankruptcy in December 2021.

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

Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM) has been working with MyBucks S.A. to identify a strategic investor following the bankruptcy order.

Despite the bankruptcy of MyBucks S.A., in Malawi the bank has continued to operate normally in line with the Banking Act, with its local operations not impacted.

Meanwhile, the bank, the receiver manager for MyBucks S.A. and the Catholic Archdiocese of Lilongwe and the Centenary Rural Development Group Limited consortium are in the process of applying for all relevant regulatory approvals to finalise the acquisition.

RBM licensed MyBucks Banking Corporation 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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