Microfinance players, govt chart future
The FSDT’S operations director, Ms Irene Mlola.
What you need to know:
- This will be the first time that microfinance stakeholders from the public and private sector are meeting since the launch of the National Microfinance Policy in October 2017.
Dar es Salaam. The government and players in the financial sector will converge in capital city of Dodoma today to chart the future of Tanzania’s microfinance industry.
This will be the first time that microfinance stakeholders from the public and private sector are meeting since the launch of the National Microfinance Policy in October 2017.
The policy intended to put in place effective coordination, legal and regulatory framework and supervision of the microfinance sub-sector in the country.
The ministry of Finance and Planning in collaboration with the Financial Sector Deepening Trust(FSDT) are hosting the two-day meeting, according to a statement from FSDT, which was availed to The Citizen yesterday. In the statement, the FSDT’S operations director, Ms Irene Mlola, said there was still a big number of the microfinance sector players in country, who continue with the old habit of saving their money at home.
She said: “58 per cent of Tanzanians still live on at least Sh40,000 a month as estimated by the FinScope Tanzania 2017 report and 43 per cent of adult Tanzanians still save their money at home.”
“It is important for microfinance stakeholders to come together and encourage more Tanzanians to use microfinance services through raising awareness on its benefits,’’ she added.
Reports show that the microfinance sub sector in Tanzania has been dominated by a number of players ranging from banks, microfinance institutions, money landers, SACCOS and informal financial groups.
However, according to experts, the targeted clients for this sub sector are mainly poor men, women and youth, residing both in urban and rural areas of Tanzania who are mainly small holder farmers and owners of small businesses.
As the government and stakeholders meet the focus is on how to facilitate collective thinking, planning, and prioritising by microfinance stakeholders given the evolving landscape of the microfinance sub-sector.
When microfinance policies are streamlined, Tanzanians are expected to be able to make the right decisions on the services they need and gain access to standard services across the country.
