Women’s bank for expansion

DAILY NEWS Reporters in Dodoma

The Deputy Minister for Health, Social Welfare, Gender, the Elderly and Children, Dr Hamis Kigwangala.

MEMBERS of the public will soon have a direct stake in the Tanzania Women’s Bank (TWB), as the government plans to float shares of the institution at the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE), through an initial public offering (IPO).

The listing of the financial institution, which was established to principally provide loans to women as part of economic empowerment drive, is meant to boost its capital and expand operations.

The revelation was made in the National Assembly yesterday by Deputy Minister for Health, Community Development, Gender, the Elderly and Children, Dr Hamis Kigwangalah, in his response to a supplementary question by Special Seats MP, Ms Faida Mohammed Bakar (CCM).

“Why shouldn’t the government consider listing TWB at the bourse to enable it boost its capital and serve more people?” the lawmaker queried. Dr Kigwangalah responded in affirmative, stating that the plan to list the bank was on the drawing board.

He did not however specify as to when the IPO will be done. He went on to assure some women lawmakers who had bought shares when the institution was established that they will be issued with share certificates.

Earlier, the Deputy Minister said the bank has failed to expand, open more branches in the country, including Zanzibar, due to limited capital.

“TWB was established with a capital of 2.8bn/- which has now increased to 8.5bn/- and yet the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) requires a fully fledged commercial bank to have a capital of 15bn/- in case it wants to open branches countrywide,” he explained.