TADB board chairperson, Rosebud Kurwijila speaks during a meeting with members of the Parliamentary Public Investment Committee in Dodoma. With her is the bank’s acting managing director, Mr Japhet Justine. PHOTO | THE CITIZEN CORRESPONDENT
What you need to know:
Discussing the TADB investment and strategic plan with members of the Parliamentary Public Investment Committee (PIC), the bank’s board chairperson, Ms Rosebud Kurwijila, said with additional cash injection, the farmers’ lender would be in a position to up its single borrowing limit.
Dodoma. The Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB) is in dire need of raising its working capital by a cool Sh800 billion so it can reach an increased number of farmers across the country, it was revealed here on Wednesday August 29.
Discussing the TADB investment and strategic plan with members of the Parliamentary Public Investment Committee (PIC), the bank’s board chairperson, Ms Rosebud Kurwijila, said with additional cash injection, the farmers’ lender would be in a position to up its single borrowing limit.
The government promised to provide a $500 million (about Sh1.1 trillion on the prevailing exchange rate) as operating capital when TADB was launched in August 2015 but until June last year (2017), it had only Sh60 billion in operating capital.
Hopes that thousands of farmers -- who had failed to acquire financing from the lender due to the limitedness of its funds- would get their much-needed funds were rekindled last year when the government signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the African Development Bank (AfDB) that would see the latter issuing $93.5 million (about Sh207 billion) to TADB.
But Ms Kurwijila said yesterday that if the bank was to effectively undertake its responsibilities and reach out to an increasing number of farmers while raising its single borrowing limit, it needs a total of Sh800 billion more in capital injection.
“TADB is taking up other initiatives of looking for capital in other areas but with the increasing demand for its loans, we see the need for having increased operating capital,” he said.
She said it was the expectation of the bank to see all major agricultural projects being financed by it in the endeavour to achieve Tanzania’s industrial economy aspirations.
She told the committee that the bank had eight clusters and the ultimate goal was to reach the needs of farmers scattered across the country. She said it was their expectation that they would introduce agricultural packs in each cluster.
The TADB acting managing director, Mr Japhet Justine, said the bank presently serves small, medium and commercial farmers, noting however that loans to commercial farmers were only being issued after the applicants indicated clearly how the small-scale farmers would benefit in the process.
The PIC chairman, Dr Raphael Chegeni, called on TADB to expand its services to other areas since farmers were in dire need of their products and services.
“I request you to see how best you will come up with a strategy in which you can start issuing loans to the districts and municipal councils in the country,” Dr Chegeni said.
