AfricaPress-Tanzania: MINISTER of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Investment) Angellah Kairuki has called on financial institutions to support start-ups in the country by nurturing them and helping them to grow financially.
Ms Kairuki advised financers to see start-ups as innovative investors with viable ideas, but lacked capital and thus needed financial support and proper guidance to further the government’s economic
development agenda.
During her tour of financial institutions in Dar es Salaam to assess its performance in the past five years of President John Magufuli’s
administration she said startups were crucial to economic growth and job creation.
“There should be a fair share of financing prospective investors at all levels and sectors. Tanzania is built by Tanzanians, find a way to help people with feasible ideas who do not have access to financing,” she said.
The minister on Friday visited NBC Bank, TPB Development Bank, NMB Bank and TIB Development Bank. She particularly noted that
TIB Development Bank, as a development financial institution (DFI), was doing a great job by financing major projects in the country despite its meagre starting capital.
TIB Development Bank Managing Director Charles Singili said the bank needed to be injected with more funds to finance long-term projects and achieve its goals.
“As DFI, we need at least 1tri/-, but our initial capital was over 200bn/-. As of September 30, this year, the bank has invested in projects worth 628.9bn/-, 75 per cent being in the private sector and 25 per cent in the public sector and 80 per cent of the projects
are long-term stretching over five years,” he said.
The minister commended TPB Bank for its customised products, including Songesha, a mobile phone loan service in collaboration with a leading telecommunications company and pensioners’ loan service, among others.
TPB Bank Chief Executive Officer Sabasaba Moshingi told the minister that the bank had unique products tailored for elderly citizens and convenient to pensioners
