NMB to avail Sh500bn in loans for agriculture

Retired President Benjamin William Mkapa (left) shares a light moment after presenting a certificate to NMB Bank managing director Ineke Bussemaker in appreciation of the financial institution’s sponsorship of NaneNane Exhibition during an event held in Simiyu on Wednesday. Looking on is Simiyu Regional Commissioner Anthony Mtaka. PHOTO | THE CITIZEN CORRESPONDENT

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NMB Plc managing director Ineke Bussemaker said here on Wednesday that the bank’s loans to the sector would reach Sh500 billion in the near future from the current Sh100 billion.

Simiyu. NMB Bank Plc plans to quintuple loans it has issued to the agriculture sector as it seeks to play an increasingly important role in Tanzania’s industrialisation goals.

NMB Plc managing director Ineke Bussemaker said here on Wednesday that the bank’s loans to the sector would reach Sh500 billion in the near future from the current Sh100 billion. NMB Bank PLC has spent more than Sh100 billion to support the agriculture sector in the country, it has been said. “We will raise the amount of loans to Sh500 billion in the next few years…this will be a big boost in the improvement of the agriculture sector in the country,” she said during the climax of this year’s Nane Nane cerebrations here. She said agriculture remained the mainstay of Tanzania’s economy and that once supported by all stakeholders it would play an important role in the government’s industrialisation drive.

Apart from financing agriculture, the bank said it was also providing training to farmers on how to increase their harvests. In 2017, NMB Bank trained over 1,000 Agricultural Marketing Cooperative Societies (Amcos) on financial management to enable farmers to undertake commercial farming.