First Capital Bank donated over half a million Zimbabwean dollars in a strategic partnership with Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) to increase production capacity of the existing sanitiser project. The donation will help to flatten the curve of the prevailing COVID-19 pandemic locally as it is set to improve the supply chain to major medical warehouses and improve self-care during this time. At the virtual launch held on Thursday 16 July 2020 with the Vice Chancellor, Engineer Quinton Kanhukamwe and HIT development team First Capital Bank Limited Managing Director, Ciaran McSharry handed over sanitiser manufacturing equipment namely booster pumps, 5 000litre water tanks.

The Bank will be able to reach over 30 000 direct households through this sterling initiative with Harare Institute of Technology youth innovators .The learning centre has a dedicated Sanitiser Manufacturing Plant run by  students and faculty staff .

It had in the past experienced a supply –demand gap due to equipment constraints, this donation addresses this issue and will increase production capacity by at least 210% on a daily basis. This will go a long way in sanitiser supply chain dynamics.

The Vice Chancellor, Harare Institute of Technology, Engineer Quinton Kanhukamwe said; ‘As HIT, we aspire to play a leading role in the fight against this virus by manufacturing the sanitizers in line with international best standards as well as pursuing other research areas. I would like to thank First Capital Bank Limited for this donation of eight 5000 litre containers and four booster pumps worth over  ZWL 500 000. This will go a long way in boosting our production capacity, which will rise to 40 000litres a day. The money generated will be used to fund research, development and innovation activities at HIT.

Speaking at the official launch, First Capital Bank Managing Director, Mr Ciaran Mcsharry said; ‘As we searched for opportunities to give back, we were clear that we wanted a sustainable project that would have far reaching impact in the future. We strongly believed that for us to accomplish this, we required experts to partner with so that we may achieve this together. Our interest was drawn to The Harare Institute of Technology Project after we learnt of their Sanitiser production line which they aptly instituted in response to the COVID pandemic. It had the unique attribute of being run by students, faculty and staff. All this culminated to the partnership we are here to celebrate today with Harare Institute of Technology which in our view is the perfect match for our needs and the ideal Public Private Partnership’.

Mr Ciaran McSharry added that First Capital Bank Zimbabwe is a part of a regional bank, FMBcapital Holdings, with a rich heritage of operations. In the past it has contributed immensely to various sectors over the years through successful Private Public Partnerships.

First Capital Bank reaffirmed its commitment to engage in sustainable community projects that will have a long term impact on the youth, community and economy of Zimbabwe.