How is the Group’s regional expansion faring? Over the years, we have pursued our regional expansion ambitions with a keen eye on prudent, progressive and sustainable growth. Our foray into the region began in 2018 through Kenya, where we set up our wholly-owned subsidiary, Aspira, to offer Hire Purchase solutions to customers. Since then, our expansion strategy has been dynamic and responsive to the needs of the Kenyan market, allowing Aspira to gain prominent ground in the region. Aspira’s ‘Bizna Financing’ was launched in March 2023 in line with our ardent commitment to support the SME sector – a vital yet underserved cornerstone of the economy – and promote entrepreneurship. Bizna Financing provides eligible entrepreneurs with access to asset financing to immediately purchase the equipment they need to scale up their ventures. Closing yet another gap in the market, we introduced the Aspira Soma Education Loan, a school financing loan facility. Having gained an understanding of the needs of the market and recognising the high premium placed on quality education in Kenya, we have developed a product to support parents to finance their children’s education at one of the lowest interest rates in the market. The loan covers all educational levels, from kindergarten to university and training institutions, to support the future of their children. How does the Group’s recent acquisition of Loinette Capital contribute to this regional expansion strategy? In March 2023, we completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in Loinette Capital, providing a significant boost in our regional expansion strategy from a market coverage perspective. With its 15 years of well-established operations in yellow metal equipment financing in ten African countries, Loinette focuses on offering asset financing solutions to midsized companies engaged in the mining, construction and agricultural sectors. To date, Loinette Capital has channelled over USD 300 million to SMEs in Sub-Saharan Africa, stimulating not only economic growth in that region, but also job creation and the development of critical infrastructure that was not previously available in those areas. To bolster our presence on the continent and to support Loinette’s growth into East and West Africa, we have strategically established hubs in Nairobi and Abidjan. Looking at our journey and our progressive expansion beyond the traditional hire purchase into SME financing and impactful educational loans, CFSL now holds a diversified and risk-adjusted portfolio, and is well-positioned to contribute meaningfully to the financial services landscape in the region. CFSL announced its firm commitment to play its part in combatting the effects of climate change. What are your personal convictions, as a leader, on how climate change and finance intersect? There is a very clear and compelling case for intersecting finance with responsibility to maximise our positive impact on the world. Addressing climate change is just as much our moral imperative as it is a strategic necessity, and this intersection is, in my view, no longer a niche concept. Sustainable finance is poised to become a cornerstone of global finance in the coming decades, with listed green financial products crossing the $300 billion threshold in terms of new issues in 2023 alone. CFSL’s Green Bond offering to support our Green Lease product are recent flagship projects and a symbol of our commitment to a greener, more sustainable Mauritius. After successfully launching our initial MUR 500 million Green Bond in January 2022, earmarked for environmentally and socially sustainable projects, we achieved another historic milestone by becoming the first company in Mauritius to list and trade a Green Bond, a new asset class, on the Stock Exchange of Mauritius. Our most recent Green Bond offering in October 2023 was oversubscribed, leading us to issue MUR 1.5 billion, of which MUR 1.1 billion bonds were listed. We have also seen an impressive uptick in the purchase of electric vehicles on the island with our Green Lease product offering. These outcomes are gratifying for us at Cim Finance, and signal a strong readiness among consumers to shift towards a cashless society. They are also an indication that Mauritius is ready to take the driver’s seat on the sustainability front and become a more active participant in the global conversation. We also continue to strategically allocate resources to more environmentally-friendly practices within our operations. For instance, we are strongly championing the shift to hybrid/ electric vehicles within CFSL’s fleet and among our workforce by offering attractive schemes to our employees. Along with this, we are working towards obtaining the LEED certification at Cim House to make our infrastructure more energy-efficient and climate-resilient. Other notable initiatives include the sponsorship of an EV charging station, recycling and waste management actions, and the pursuit of digital solutions to phase out our consumption of paper. In light of the labour challenges plaguing almost all industries, what steps is CFSL taking to maintain a motivated and engaged workforce? There has been a noticeable shift in the labour market since the end of the pandemic, with a range of challenges threatening the long-term sustainability of businesses if left unaddressed. Talent shortages, skills gaps, intense competition and changing demographics have come together to create a perfect storm for the financial services industry. Ensuring a stable pipeline of engaged, fulfilled and skilled talents has become our utmost priority. While continuing to meet our employees’ expectations with respect to flexibility, work-life balance and wellbeing, we also adapted our employee value proposition to address the need of the hour–easing the impact of inflation on our employees. We strongly emphasised learning and development to ensure our people are equipped with the know-how, knowledge and mindset to take on greater challenges, move into more complex roles, and develop leadership skills. It is with great enthusiasm that I would like to share two momentous initiatives in this regard: the launch of Cim’s Discussion with the Group CEO Continued 28 CIM FINANCE ANNUAL REPORT
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