Tanzanian establishes Machinga Fund to empower petty traders as 18.5bn/- continues to fund their business

DODOMA: THE Minister for  Finance, Dr Hamisi Mussa Omar said the Tanzanian government has established the Machinga Fund to empower small business owners known as Machinga, where  18.5bn/- continues to be used to lend to these business owners for the year 2025/26.

Speaking during the presentation of the Government’s Proposals on Revenue and Expenditure Estimates for the Year 2026/2027, today, June 11, 2026 in parliament in Dodoma, Ambassador Khamis Mussa Omar said the government is also continuing to strengthen the fund where 10.5bn/- will be added for the year 2026/27.

He also said that the government has allocated 200bn/- for the national Youth Economic Empowerment Program, where until April 2026, 52.6bn/- have been provided for loans to youth in various sectors who met the criteria.

ALSO READ: Govt allocates Sh1.3tn for health, debt clearance

“The government has continued to implement the National Elderly Policy of 2003, 2024 Edition, which aims to strengthen care, health and social security services for the elderly.

He added that “During the period from July 2025 to April 2026, the government funded care services for the elderly and the indigent in government-managed nursing homes, in parallel with facilitating access to health insurance and medical exemption services for the elderly worth  3.2bn/-.

Ambassador Dr Khamis said that the Government has continued to identify and include the elderly in the Poor Household Empowerment Program (TASAF).