“Moloto and Nchocho bring extensive expertise and experience to the Land Bank, an institution which plays and will continue to play a key role in the development of the agricultural sector,” said finance minister Nhlanhla Nene in a statement issued by the Ministry of Finance.
According to Nene, Land Bank had undergone a remarkable turnaround and growth since 2008 when it was rescued from near-collapse. Between 2008 and 2014 its loan book grew by 180% from R12 billion to R33 billion.
This growth had however far outstripped the growth of the bank’s capital base, even after government injected R3,5 billion new capital and provided the bank with R2,5 billion in guarantees.
“The faster growth in the loan book has affected the bank’s financial strength, which needs to be consolidated to prepare for bank’s next growth phase,” said Nene.
Nchocho’s experience at the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) would, said Nene, would be very valuable in steering bank through this next period of growth.
As the group executive responsible for the DBSA’s SA operations, Nchocho’s responsibilities included; infrastructure project finance, corporate lending, public sector finance, empowerment finance, private equity investments and project advisory.
Moloto brings a wealth of expertise as a member and leader of the boards of various entities, said Nene. He was most recently chairperson of the Government Employees Pension Fund and a director on the board of the Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund.
The Ministry of Finance indicated in the statement that Moloto’s appointment was for a three year period from January 2015 to December 2017 and Nchocho’s for five years, from January 2015 to December 2019.
