Stanbic bank Zambia has released $40 million to local commercial farmers in bid to boost the southern African country’s agriculture sector.

The bank says the $40 million released is part of the $80 million grant set aside by the bank for the country’s agriculture sector.

“We have provided different kinds of facilities to support the farmers through the different things that we have been doing.At the moment, we are currently one of largest agriculture books in Zambia,” said Stanbic Zambia head of agricultural banking Mwamba Musambo.

Stanbic Bank is a division of Standard Bank, a member of the Standard Bank Group, based in Johannesburg in South Africa.

Recently Stanbic Bank Zambia and tax collector, Zambia Revenue Authority (ZRA) also entered into a new online tax and revenue collecting partnership.

Stanbic Bank was adopted as a trading name in 1992, when the Standard Bank Group, then known as Standard Bank Investment Corporation, acquired the African operations of ANZ Grindlays Bank. The new name was adopted to avoid confusion with the Standard Bank’s British former parent bank, Standard Chartered Bank, which continued to operate in Africa.

Standard Bank also now trades under the name Stanbic Bank in Botswana the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, South Sudan, Tanzania,Uganda and Zimbabwe.

By George Mpofu