Vice-President of Loita Capital Partners, which owns Loita Investment Bank in Malawi, Jacques De Jager, will in September take over the reins of the local branch to replace Jerome Bissay who is moving to Rwanda.

The bank announced the changes in Blantyre on Tuesday night at a farewell party for Bissay, a France-trained banker from Cameroon, who proceeds to head the Rwanda of the Pan-African investment group.

Loita Capital Partners Executive Director Yousef Bazian told invited guests that during Bissay's five-year stint as Managing Director in Malawi, the Bank's assets grew from a value of K1 billion to K3.5 billion.

He said during the same period Loita's deposit base grew from K570 million in 2000 to K2.3 billion in 2003 when its loan, advances and trade financing closed at K1.2 billion.

“Since its inception, LIB (Loita Investment Bank) has already established itself in the Malawi economy as a market leader in financial products and services” said Bazian.

And according to the bank's financial statements for year ending December 2003 audited by KPMG, its net asset value has grown from K371 .105 million in 2002 to K511.437 million last year.

The directors' report accompanying the statements also indicates that the bank paid a dividend of K16.3 million, representing K10.89 per share.

In the interim up to September when De Jagger arrives, LIB's deputy managing director Aubrey Charlera will try to fit the big shoes left by Bissay as acting MD Chalera formerly worked with Reserve Bank of Malawi (RBM).

But rather sadly for Bissay a seasoned jazz artist who has played alongside veteran DE Bango, he was not given a change to play his guitar and jazz up the crowd at Ryalls Hotel.

And when De Jagger arrives in Malawi, he will soon learn that it's not all that jazz on the market where at 27 per cent, interest rates are still seen as too high for an economy recovering from 10 years of mismanagement, and still under aid sanctions by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Inflation stands at more than 11per cent.