Sunflower, grape farmers set to reap big from Exim loans

Sunflowers and grapes growers in Dodoma Region should be smiling broadly following the decision by the Exim Bank Tanzania to provide soft loans.

The loans, which are interest friendly, were made public during the launch of the bank’s branch at the University of Dodoma (Udom), College of Informatics.

In a brief launch ceremony over the weekend, the Exim Bank Tanzania Head of Human Resources, Mr Frederick Kanga said the bank had decided to expand its footholds in the region in order to supplement efforts by the government to shift its seat from Dar es Salaam to the capital city.

He added that the fast-growing financial institution was planning to support grape and sunflower farmers in the region by providing them with soft capital loans.

Moreover, Mr Kanga revealed that the bank would also come up with schemes that would boost entrepreneurs in the region to grow their businesses.

For her part, the Dodoma District Commissioner, Ms Christine Mndeme challenged the bank to assist the government in speeding up the pace of investments in the Tanzania’s capital.

She underscored the need for the bank to play a role in assisting the entrepreneurs individually in the region by offering the loans they can repay easily.

The Exim Bank Tanzania branch manager, Mr Faiton Samwel assured that through the Cooperate Social Responsibility (CSR), the bank will manage to offer its assistance to various sectors in Dodoma, which range from health, education and agriculture.

He said the bank has so far managed to open 33 branches across the country, adding that they also have branches in Djibouti, Comoro and Uganda.

“We successfully also posted a pre-tax profit of Sh83.3billion making it the fourth biggest bank in terms of assets in Tanzania,” he said.