Banking sector serves about 6 million, data shows

Dr Mgimwa

Tanzanians are still starving from accessing enough banking services for financing economic activities.

The latest data from the ministry of Finance shows that only 12.4 per cent of 45 million Tanzanians access banking services, and there are about 50 commercial banks.

The minister for Finance, Dr William Mgimwa, recently, challenged banking institutions to open more branches in the country to reach many people who need financial services.

Officiating at the opening of the Bank of Africa branch in Kahama District late last week, Dr Mgimwa said that there was a direct correlation between the number of banks a country has and economic performance.

The finance minister urged other banks in the country to emulate the Bank of Africa Tanzania’s footsteps for the good of their business and that of the country at large.

“Big and affluent economies such as Europe, America and South Africa have a strong base of banks and other financial institutions,” he said.

He re-affirmed government commitment to continue supporting private banks in terms of putting in place conducive policies and a good working environment to make sure that they achieve their objectives.

Kahama branch becomes the 18th branch for the Bank of Africa Tanzania (BOA).

Briefing reporters in Dar es Salaam over the weekend, BOA’s managing director Ammishadai Owusu-Amoah said that the direction and emphasis would continue to be placed on strategically expanding the banks network within and outside Dar es Salaam.

“We’ll continue to serve the retail and SME markets and facilitate cross-border trade within the East African region,” he said.

The MD said that the bank recognises a crucial role of financial organs for any country’s development and noted that his bank will follow people where they are and offer them a wide range of services.

“We follow people where they are,” Mr Owusu-Amoah said.

Since it started operations in the country in 2007, the bank has opened branches in Dar es Salaam, Morogoro, Tunduma, Mwanza, Moshi, Mbeya, Arusha, Mtibwa and now Kahama.

Bank of Africa Tanzania is a part of a Pan African bank called Bank of Africa Group.

The Group operates in 15 countries in Africa -- Benin, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger and Senegal, Burundi, Djibouti, Kenya, Madagascar, Tanzania and Uganda, and DR Congo. It is also present in France.

Source: The Citizen, www.thecitizen.co.tz, reported from Kahama, Shinyanga

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