This year’s report offers a comprehensive overview of the challenges and opportunities facing the banking sector, with a spotlight on emerging risks. We remain optimistic about the sector’s resilience and its potential to drive meaningful societal impact.
This year’s edition captures the sector’s shifting priorities, persistent challenges and emerging opportunities within a rapidly evolving economic, technological and regulatory landscape.
Cybersecurity has emerged as the most pressing concern for Zambian banks in 2025. The increasing digitisation of financial services, accelerated by mobile and online banking adoption, has exposed institutions to a broader spectrum of cyber threats. The Bank of Zambia (BoZ) has responded to these risks by refining its supervisory framework and launching initiatives aimed at strengthening cyber resilience across the financial sector. These include the establishment of the Financial Cyber Incident Response Team (FINCIRT) and the integration of Supervisory Technology (SupTech) tools to enhance real-time monitoring and risk mitigation.
While the state of the local economy remains a critical factor influencing banking activities it ranked second in priority in the survey the sector has noted improvement thanks to macroeconomic stabilisation efforts.
Digital transformation and innovation have become strategic imperatives in the banking sector and this year make their debut among the top five banking priorities. Banks are focusing on leveraging innovative technologies, including AI, to improve operational efficiency, enhance customer experience and respond to competitive pressures from both traditional and nontraditional players in the financial ecosystem.
Improving revenue growth has gained prominence as a strategic focus, highlighting banks’ efforts to diversify and strengthen income streams in a challenging economic and technological landscape. Sustained revenue growth is seen as essential not only for financial performance but also for long-term sustainability and continued investment in innovation. Liquidity risk concerns, while still relevant, have declined significantly in 2025 compared to the previous year, reflecting improved liquidity management despite tighter monetary policies, which include increases in the statutory reserve ratio (SRR) and monetary policy rate (MPR).
This report presents an in-depth examination of the five areas most affecting banks in 2025 cybersecurity, economic stability, digital innovation, revenue growth, and liquidity management in order to provide stakeholders with an informed understanding of the current state and future direction of Zambia’s banking sector.
