Bank Windhoek Corporate Profile
Since its establishment in 1982, Bank Windhoek has become a leading Namibian bank offering a wide spectrum of retail, wholesale and international banking products and services through its distribution network of 39 branches and several agencies and electronic channels, including Internet banking and cell phone banking and a network of more than 140 ATMs and Cash Express machines countrywide.
 
Through the attraction and development of a highly competent and committed team of people, utilization of state of the art technology and the application of professionalism, innovation and entrepreneurship, the Bank has maintained solid growth over the past 26 years.
 
Over the past year, the Bank has reinvested its profits to build a strong financial position. Bank Windhoek maintained strong earnings growth and delivered another set of positive results by leveraging on the benefits of new customer-relationship management models, additional product offerings and a favorable operating environment. Earnings growth for the year ended 30 June 2007 grew by 26.8% compared with the earnings for the previous year.

The bank’s strong financial position was acknowledged by the international credit-rating agency, the Global Credit Rating Company (GCR), which maintained the Bank’s long- and short-term domestic currency ratings of AA and A1+ respectively. These ratings indicate the highest certainty of timely repayment in the short term, and very high credit quality and protection factors in the long term. Bank Windhoek was also honoured to be rated as the best bank in Namibia in the 2007 Barloworld Annual CEO Survey.

Guided by its core values of teamwork, excellence, learning, passion and integrity, Bank Windhoek continuously pursues its vision to become the preferred bank in Namibia.
 

Vision
To be the preferred bank in Namibia
 

Core purpose
To make banking a rewarding experience
 

Values
Teamwork, excellence, learning, passion and integrity,
 
Social Investment FundThe objectives of Bank Windhoek’s Corporate Social Investment activities are:

•To be recognised as a corporate citizen by contributing within our means, to reconstruction, development and poverty alleviation;
•To help improve the critical social and economic conditions of the communities in which we operate;
•To create a conducive business environment by addressing social ills that impact negatively on socio-economic developments
Creating an environment that is conducive to the growth and development of Namibia's people, requires the private sector to support social upliftment initiatives. Bank Windhoek is committed to being a responsible corporate citizen and invests in a number of projects that seek to deliver on its mission of social upliftment through its Social Investment Fund, sponsorship and donations.
Bank Windhoek invests in a range of social and community-based projects that make a sustainable difference in the lives of those who benefit from its social investment. The focus areas are entrepreneurship, education, job creation and health, with specific focus on creating awareness to help prevent cancer.
As with its business dealings, the golden thread running through the Bank's social spending, is the partnerships it fosters with beneficiary communities, development experts and Government Ministries.
In the year under review, Bank Windhoek's total expenditure on corporate social investment amounted to over N$6 million. Through its Social Investment Fund alone, N$1.6 was channeled to job creation and education projects. From a more broad-based approach, Bank Windhoek has refined the Social Investment Fund's focus to concentrate on projects that lead to sustainability and make a positive contribution to the country's economy.
EDUCATION
Education remains one of the most fundamental tools for social and economic transformation in Namibia. However, the challenges facing our educational system are widespread and complex, with no simple or short-term solution. Experience has shown, however, that a sustained, integrated project focusing on one area will have a deeper and more lasting impact than a scattered approach over a longer period of time.
With this in mind, the Bank Windhoek Social Investment Fund has focused specifically on entrepreneurship education over the past few years. In 2003, Bank Windhoek signed a landmark public-private partnership agreement with the Ministry of Education. As a result, in 2009, entrepreneurship will form part of the school curriculum for Grade 8 to Grade 10 learners.
In support of this, school teachers representing various regions, received training on entrepreneurship education from the National Institute for Educational Development (NIED) in Okahandja as from February 2007. This training programme was aimed at equipping teachers with the necessary knowledge and skills to present the new subject. Bank Windhoek's Social Investment Fund committed a total of N$150,000 towards this project during 2008.
The Michelle McLean Children’s Trust Spring School was supported with a N$25,000 sponsorship in 2008. The school’s aim is to prepare grade 10 and 12 scholars for their annual examinations in the subjects of mathematics and physical science. Pollination Publishers also received a sponsorship of N$51,000 in 2008. The funds will assist with the printing of 1,500 Grade 4 English books, which will be distributed countrywide to less privileged schools.
The Bank Windhoek Social Investment Fund also demonstrated its commitment towards education with a sponsorship of N$60,000 to the Namibian Mathematics Institution in 2009. The Namibian Mathematics Institution utilised the grant to develop special mathematics teaching aids, which will assist with training at educational colleges across the country.
JOB CREATION
Bank Windhoek aims to contribute towards socio-economic upliftment by engaging disadvantaged communities in sustainable job creation activities, as well as promoting an entrepreneurial culture. While healthy economic growth has alleviated the unemployment crisis to some extent, the situation remains critical. Clearly, income and opportunities are still profoundly unequal and much more needs to be done to create opportunities for the less fortunate.
Both Bank Windhoek and Government are committed to promote enterprise development to ensure that previously disadvantaged Namibians are included in the mainstream economy. During the past year, the Social Investment Fund contributed a total of N$80,000 to the KAYEC Trust for start-up toolkits. Toolkits to the value of N$40,000 were provided to the top twenty students of both the Ondangwa and Windhoek Centres. These toolkits have helped students to start their own plumbing, welding and carpentry businesses.
The Bank Windhoek Social Investment Fund continued to invest in a mentorship programme that aims to guide our small and medium enterprise (SME) clients to efficiently and effectively manage their businesses by identifying and addressing institutional capacity deficiencies.
Through the SME mentorship programme, Bank Windhoek invested more than N$1 million in the training and development of enterprises during the past financial year. The Social Investment Fund carries 98% of the cost, while the clients contribute 2%.
Since 2003, the Social Investment Fund has funded the highly successful Entrepreneurial and Business Skills Training Programme at the Windhoek Central Prison. Recently a survey was conducted to measure the effectiveness of the programme, which showed that 75% of the former prisoners who participated in the programme have been fully integrated back into the economy, while approximately 15% are studying and 10% are unemployed.
The most remarkable result of the Entrepreneurial and Business Skills Training Programme is that over 38% of participants have successfully started their own businesses following their release, not only creating jobs for themselves but also for a further 31 full-time employees and a number of part-time staff.
HEALTH AND WELFARE
Maintaining a healthy population and effectively responding to health needs are priorities in every country. Considering that healthy, well-balanced citizens contribute to a productive and economically robust society, Bank Windhoek supports health as one of its key focus areas. Through the Bank Windhoek Cancer Apple Project, the Bank aims to create awareness and educate the youth about cancer.
The Bank Windhoek Cancer Apple Project raised N$1 000 000 in aid of the Cancer Association of Namibia in 2009. This association is a non-profit organisation that relies solely on the goodwill of the Namibian public and companies like Bank Windhoek for support. The funds raised through the Bank Windhoek Cancer Apple Project will support the Cancer Association in their daily operations, including nationwide Pap smear clinics, as well as the funding of House Acacia, where cancer patients receive free accommodation.
SPONSORSHIPS AND DONATIONS
Bank Windhoek continued to sponsor a number of projects, thereby, reaffirming its commitment to the communities within which it operates.
The annual Bank Windhoek Golf Day that took place in September 2008 marked a milestone. The Bank Windhoek Golf Day celebrated its 10th anniversary and raised the biggest amount ever of N$ 150 000 for welfare, enabling Bank Windhoek to make contributions to the following seven (7) welfare organistions:

•People’s Health Project
•Namibia Old Age Help Fund
•Men on the Side of the Road
•Namibia Association of Children with Disabilities
•ERPOW – Envoy for rebuilding the Poor, Orphaned and Widowed
•Pondo Multi Purpose Community Organisation
•Okahandja Home-based Caregivers
The Bank Windhoek coastal Golf Day in aid of welfare that took place in March 2009 also enjoyed support from the business community, with a total of N$30 000 being raised and channeled to the following beneficiaries:
•SPCA Walvis Bay
•Junior Cricket School in Walvis Bay
•Mondesa Youth Opportunities
Major sponsorships during the year under review included:

•Bank Windhoek Arts Festival
•Cat Protection Society
•Namibian Agricultural Union
•Media Institute of Southern Africa
•“Afrikaanse Taal en Kultuur Vereniging”
•Bank Windhoek Business Communicator of the Year and Business Orators League for Secondary Schools
•Namibia National Olympic Committee
•Association of Agriculture Economics of Namibia (Agricona)
Bank Windhoek's social investment philosophy is based on partnerships between the Bank, Government, the business community at large and the communities within which we operate. Therefore, the Bank Windhoek Social Investment Fund's vision remains to make a meaningful contribution to the sustainable development and prosperity of all communities through social and community investment.
Apply for Funds
To apply for funding from the Bank Windhoek Social Investment Fund or to get more information, please contact Riaan van Rooyen, Head: Corporate Communication and Social Investment. Tel: +264-61-299-1271 or email him at:  vanrooyenr@bankwindhoek.com.na or click here for the application form...>>
Criteria and Requirements
The Social Investment Fund committee consists of 8 members who meet every 6 to 8 weeks. During these committee meetings all applications for funding are reviewed and decisions about Bank Windhoek’s support. To ensure that your application comply with the criteria and requirements please read the funding policy...>>