Joe started his professional career in 2000 with Intercontact Services and his banking career in 2004 with Santander UK, formerly Abbey National Plc, a UK-based bank. In Santander, he was a lending consultant with a focus on retail lending.

He joined Finbank, then a subsidiary of Access Bank Plc, Nigeria, in 2009. During the last 6 years with the bank, he has managed several business portfolios including retail, commercial, corporate and institutional banking. He brings on board over 15 years of banking experience, spanning over portfolio management, risk management; sales and marketing; strategy formulation and execution, relationship management. In Finbank, he has been responsible for the management of our key corporate clientele and has led many financing rounds for our big corporate customers. Some of his key initiatives have been;

1. Leading a syndication for Burundi Cement Company – the main cement company in the country;

2. Organising financing for Rainbow Mining Burundi and offering a comprehensive banking solution;

3. Offering trade finance solutions to the energy sector including key players such as Regideso and the supply chain;

As Managing Director, Joe is responsible for the overall strategic outlook, culture and performance of the bank.

He holds a BSc in Economics and a Masters Degree in International and Development Economics and a professional Diploma in Business Banking from The Chartered Institute of Bankers in Scotland, UK.  He has also accumulated professional trainings in Financial Management; Business Finance; Risk Management; Investment; from Worldwide Leaders in Learning Solutions such as Thompson Reuters and ACI.

WILLY CIMBA, Deputy Managing Director

Willy Cimba is Deputy Managing Director. He has held this position since 2016, prior to this he was Commercial Director. Cimba has extensive experience in the local banking sector after working in various roles in different banks across the country for over quarter a century. Prior to joining Finbank, Cimba was head of institutional banking at BCB with a mandate to serve NGO’s, donor agencies and international institutions. He was also overseeing branch co-ordination. He was also in charge of business development, leading teams to Europe to develop BCB’s remittance business.

Within Finbank, Cimba is an executive officer with the mandate to grow the bank’s overall corporate client base, create new product lines and develop new banking relationships. He also has the mandate to lead the bank’s recovery efforts on its outstanding loans portfolio. He does this by overseeing all the business officers including Branch managers as well as the recovery team. Some of his key achievements at the bank have been;

1. Significantly growing the bank’s overall asset base by over 100% since 2016;

2. Developing partnerships with public sector companies and institutions;

3. Developing the bank’s coffee-sector expertise to become a major player in the space;

4. Led the overall partnership with the Office Burundaise des Recettes (OBR) which is the local revenue authority;

Cimba has plenty of experience and professional qualifications including advanced diplomas in marketing, audit and control from France. He also has an ACI certificate in dealing obtained from Lagos, Nigeria. He has lead teams to Sweden, Netherlands, Kenya, France and Belgium to develop new products. He is a key member of staff and is valued for his experience and deep knowledge about the Burundian banking industry. Cimba is also very well connected in the local market and he is a valuable asset to have as a corporate entity particularly a foreign entity looking to work in Burundi, he has proven this time and time again.