EXIM Bank Tanzania has reaffirmed its commitment to support the government’s efforts of promoting the use of clean cooking energy, especially for women.
The bank’s move comes as the government, through the Ministry of Energy, has announced the allocation of over 30bn/- for the distribution and purchase of alternative energy equipment that will be distributed throughout the country to achieve the set goal.
Exim’s Cluster Head Ms Elizabeth Mayengo said that in order to achieve the goal of reaching 80 per cent of women using clean energy in the country, there is a need to empower women economically to enable them to make sustainable changes in the use of clean energy.
“Based on our commitment, we realised that it is necessary to start with economic empowerment for women to enable them to have financial power that will increase their speed and ease towards the intended changes,” Ms Mayengo said during a training over the weekend on the use of alternative energy for women and youths organised by the Tanzania Women Empowerment Network (TAWEN).
The training was launched by the Minister for Energy, Mr January Makamba.
Opening the training, Minister Makamba stated that the government is determined to help women across the country and other groups to get away from the use of unsafe energy, including the use of firewood and charcoal as they not only increase environmental impact but also affect the health of users.
“In this new budget, we have set aside over 30bn/- for the distribution and purchase of alternative energy equipment which will be distributed throughout the country,” Mr Makamba said.
However, Minister Makamba called on financial institutions in the country to support the government’s efforts by looking at ways to create specialised banking services that aim to facilitate the purchase and access to clean cooking energy equipment.
Exim has a special account for women—Supa Woman, which allowed access to emergency loans of up to 90 per cent of the amount in their accounts or bonds, mortgage loans, and business loans.
“The bank’s female customers are being offered free life insurance services,” Ms Mayengo said.
