From Auditor to Architect of Zanzibar’s Banking Future

When Zanzibar President Dr. Hussein Ali Mwinyi appointed Mr. Fahad Soud Hamid to lead the People’s Bank of Zanzibar (PBZ) as its new Managing Director effective July this year, any other ordinary boss would have thrown a party or two and continued with business as usual. For, the bank had a clean sheet: in 2024, it recorded a 24% increase in profit before tax, reaching TZS 92.09 billion, up from TZS 74.06 billion in 2023.

However, Hamid has proven to be an extraordinary leader cut from a different cloth. Yes, no parties were thrown. Instead, he outlined a bold vision meant to transform PBZ into a top-tier bank not only in Zanzibar but Tanzania as a whole.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with ZiBi Magazine in Zanzibar recently, the business leader expressed a bold vision to make PBZ one of the top three financial institutions in Tanzania in the next five years.

“This vision is anchored on maintaining non-performing loans below 3%, achieving double-digit annual deposit growth and capturing at least 25% of the Tanzanian market,” he said.

But who is this man Fahad Soud Hamid and what is the source of his audacity?

Hamid is 43 years old—the age that qualifies as relatively young but he is armed with academic skills and 20 years of extensive, proven hands-on experience in building businesses and management control in banking, insurance, professional services, retail, logistics, trading, manufacturing and international development.

My experience with PwC was paramount as it built and made me who I am today. The foundation was solid and prepared me to be future leader through proper mentorship.

He attended University of Dar es Salaam from 2003 to 2006 and graduated with Bachelor of Commerce degree in Accounting with Honours.

From 2006 to 2007, he attended professional course with National Board of Accountants and Auditors (NBAA) in Dar es Salaam and obtained Certified Public Accountant (CPA) professional certification.

Additionally, from 2011 to 2014, Hamid attended Eastern and Southern African Management Institute (ESAMI) and graduated with Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree and later attended Institute of Directors Tanzania (IODT) Certificate and Mastery programmes in Directorship from 2021 to 2022.

But Hamid’s career journey actually began immediately after high school when he obtained Accounting Technician certificate and joined the Ministry of Finance in Zanzibar at the Statistician’s Office as an Accountant. He was later selected to further his studies at the University of Dar es Salaam.

Whilst close to finishing his degree, he successfully did an aptitude with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) which resulted in his immediate recruitment to the firm as an Associate Auditor.

After two years with the auditing giant, he was promoted to Senior Associate specializing in audits of financial institutions where he dealt mainly with audits of financial institutions, secretly preparing him for bigger things without his knowledge.  

He later joined Citibank as departmental Head in Controls, Risks and Internal Audit before later moving to Amana Bank at its early inception, heading the Finance department.

To grow professionally and acquire true wealth of experience that can make you stand out of thick crowd of fellow professionals sometimes requires making tough decisions that ordinary folks might see as suicidal.  Hamid did just that.

To enrich his CV, Hamid decided to get experience outside the banking industry and joined GSM Group and held various top positions, including Group Chief Finance Officer and Deputy Group Chief Executive Officer.

“Finally, I was privileged to gain experience in international development space with USAID Tanzania where I was the Deputy Director for Finance prior to my appointment the current role. On top of that, I hold aggregate board directorship experience of more than five years in banking, insurance and capital markets,” he said.

Cumulatively, that is about 20 years of experience across banking, insurance, logistics, retail, manufacturing and international development. In such a long journey, there is always a specific role or experiences that shapes one’s leadership philosophy, isn’t it?

“Yes, indeed,” he said. “My experience with PwC was paramount as it built and made me who I am today. The foundation was solid and prepared me to be a future leader through proper mentorship. I would also recognize my experiences at Amana Bank which enhanced my leadership journey through the mentorship of Dr. Idris M. Rashid. He was an exceptional leader who inspired and shaped me to lead a bank.”

It’s worth mentioning that when Hamid was only 32, he was offered position to lead a bank based on the trust his mentor had in him but he felt he was too young and would not be able to be resilient enough hence kindly turned down the offer.

“A bank has public interest and you carry on your shoulders the weights of the decisions that you make that either propel or wreck the institution and the public. I don’t regret as I feel I am now 100% ready to steer the wheel,” he said.

As for the specifics of the task at hand, we sought to know how Hamid is prepared to turn his bold vision into tangible results that people can see, touch and learn from.

“My top priority for the first six months is ensuring we continue to strengthen our relationship with our customers, partners and other stakeholders. To achieve this, I will prioritize staff issues and enhance our business processes in order to ensure our customers are served timely and efficiently. I am also working with my team to align to our strategic goals for mid and longer term,” he said.

PBZ Bank currently has 44 branches and service centres all over Zanzibar and Tanzania Mainland. This means it serves different and diverse clientele which he hopes to leverage though collaboration with other financial institutions towards a critical goal of achieve financial inclusion in the country.

We are soon going to introduce mobile branches meant for hard-to-reach areas or without banking services. To start we shall start with Zanzibar as pilot and if sucessful we shall extend to Tanzania Mainland.

Banking has since evolved from time-consuming paper works in banking halls to mobile and internet banking, ATMs and agency banking. How is PBZ fairing in this front?

“In the last five years, we have heavily invested in technology and digital services. This is the direction most financial institutions are heading. With technological advancement we aim to make banking more convenient for our customers. We have invested heavily in alternative delivery channels such as internet banking, mobile app banking and agency banking. We shall continue to invest in these channels to enhance our customers’ experience. We further intend to invest to digitalize most of our current product offerings. Our customers should expect more good things coming their way.”

The name People’s Bank speaks volumes. How do you reach ordinary people, especially in underserved regions and communities?

He says his aim is to have presence in all major cities in Tanzania. Also it will be in developing different solutions to ensure the Bank reach those who are in remote areas. And he adds, “For instance, we are soon going to introduce mobile branches meant for hard-to-reach-areas or without banking services. To start with, we shall start with Zanzibar as pilot and if successful we shall extend to Tanzania Mainland.”

On the alternative delivery channels, PBZ intend to enhance agency banking reach. “We currently have a network of more than 1500 agencies. Furthermore, we are looking for partnership solutions to ensure we enhance our reach further. We are also going to continue to sensitize the use of mobile banking which is more enhanced and enables customers to pay for all bills such as electricity, water school fees and government taxes and levies.”

Ambitious growth plans like these can only be turned into reality when there is strong corporate culture to guide performance of the team. How is Hamid prepared on this one? ZiBi put yet another question to him.

And he responded, “The banking industry is highly competitive, and for a bank to thrive, a performance-driven culture is essential. Our staff need to perform at our highest level whilst maintaining our values of excellence, integrity and accountability, teamwork and high moral standards.

To maintain our values, we constantly remind and teach ourselves on what makes our DNA as a bank. PBZ’s DNA is made up of these values and that is why we are amongst the lowest ranked banks in non-performing loans and fraud related incidents issues.”

Setting clear objectives and implementation plans is one thing. Leading the team to achieve the same is another. ZiBi Magazine wanted to know what he sees as his leadership style and philosophy.

“There are a lot of expectations to this position from different stakeholders. At the centre of these expectations are our staff. As a leader I can only influence, and influencing requires one to be people-centric. Being people-centric does not mean to tolerate incompetence or dishonesty. Being people-centric is balancing the wellbeing of staff with the performance of the bank. I am an advocate of ‘carrot and stick’ approach.”