CRDB dishes out 1.0tri/- to MSMEs in five months

CRDB Bank has issued 995.35bn/- loans to Micro and Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the first five months of this year

DAR ES SALAAM: CRDB Bank has issued 995.35bn/- loans to Micro and Small Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the first five months of this year.

The number of loans dished out to MSMEs in the first five months of this year has overtaken the entire amount issued last year of 906.166bn/-.

CRDB recognises and promotes entrepreneurship because its activities contribute 27 per cent of the GDP hence the loans are part of the bank’s effort to see they achieve their goals.

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CRDB Chief Operation Officer, Bruce Mwile said yesterday during the marking of International MSMEs Day that they have provided loans to 21,470 entrepreneurs in five months to May compared to 19,428 for the entire last year in various sectors.

“SMEs contribute directly to the growth of the national income and increase the government’s income through taxes. “This sector also has a great contribution in improving technology and increasing efficiency in the production of goods and services, thus making the economy more competitive internationally,” said Mr Mwile.

The United Nations (UN) reports that entrepreneurs are an important engine to achieving the implementation of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as this group contributes to 90 per cent of all businesses in the world that provide between 60 to 70 per cent of decent jobs and contribute more than half of world output.

In Tanzania, there are more than 3.0 million small entrepreneurial businesses that provide income security to owners.

“The entrepreneurial sector has been a major catalyst for the economic growth of many countries in the world by stimulating creativity and establishing new businesses that increase employment and strengthen the income of individuals and society as a whole,” Mr Mwile said.

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The bank marked the day at its headquarters in Dar es Salaam. The sectors that benefited from the loan are agriculture, construction and housing, infrastructure, transportation, health, education, energy, mining, business and industry, as well as the blue economy.

Mr Mwile said CRDB Bank Foundation, which is a subsidiary of the bank, is implementing the Imbeju programme that provides entrepreneurship with financial education to women and young people and provides a seed capital starting at 100,000/-.

So far, the programme has already reached more than 400,000 entrepreneurs and provided some 10bn/-as seed capital. In line with the celebration, the lender launched a ‘CRDB Biashara Account’ which is specifically for small businessmen who aim to develop their projects.

Speaking at the debate during the celebration, the Royal Mark CEO, Mr Johnson Kapira said he started his company in 1995 after graduating from university and failed to secure a job.

“I started as a very small businessman and the capital was a challenge, but through CRDB’s purchase order agreement service I managed to borrow a small amount. Today I can borrow up to 4.0bn/-,” said Mr Kapira.

Qualitas Hospital CEO, Josephat Kibwanga said CRDB loans managed to properly equip and improve services in his hospital.

“All this has been made possible due to timely loans provision from CRDB Bank.” Mr Kibwanga said.