THE government has received 10.17bn/- in dividends from the NMB, the most profitable bank, being part of the 32bn/- doled out to its shareholders from its 93.3bn/- net profit posted last year. NMB maintains its profit distribution policy despite going through a challenging year, where the government owns 31.8 per cent of 500 million shares.

Dr Philip Mpango, the Minister for Finance and Planning, said in Dodoma yesterday after receiving dividend dummy cheque that if three or four banks paid as much tax to the government as NMB, the government could do even more to support development projects.
He commended NMB for the outstanding performance which has seen Treasury reaping fruits of its investment. “NMB continues to be agreat example, I understand 2017 was a tough year for the financial sector but NMB came through with great achievements.
The bank’s contribution in taxes to the government is a good example and I commend them for that. Other banks should borrow a leaf,” he said. The economy would benefit when financial inclusion increases and the society moves away from largely cash to predominantly electronic payments and collections.
NMB Bank Managing Director Ms Ineke Bussemaker said the bank’s future outlook was driven by technology to deliver products and service to millions of Tanzanians.
“Branches will continue to be major service points for customers, but more payments are made through digital gateways, customers will use their mobile phones for both payments and loans, Wakala will provide banking services where branches are further away in order to continue being close to our customers, ‘Karibu Yako’,” she said.
She added, “… NMB continues to be the most profitable bank in the country. For example, I understand 2017 was a tough year for the financial sector but the bank came through with great achievements.” Cash underneath the mattress doesn’t contribute to the economy.
NMB Bank is ready to expand on financial inclusion and to provide more financial services to the important agri sector across the country. In achieving its objectives, NMB will try to further intensify the relationship with the Government, its key partner.
By growing its customer base, NMB Bank would grow its income, profit and dividend payments. Apart from the dividend, NMB Bank has contributed to the growth of the economy and to the government treasury by way of paying government taxes.
The bank paid tax at an average of 115bn/- per year amounting to about 460bn/-from 2014 to 2017. Tax payments which are a major source of government revenue were made up of corporate tax, value added tax, excise duty, withholding tax, Pay as You Earn (PAYE) and Skills and Development Levy (SDL).
Ms Ineke Bussemaker said the bank plays a key role in Tanzania’s development, noting that it was now particularly focusing on ensuring that more and more Tanzanians are able to access its services. The bank also contributes massively through its corporate social responsibility policy whereby it channels one per cent of its net profit towards education and health sectors among others.
In the endeavour to reach the unbanked segment of the population, Ms Bussemaker told Dr Mpango that the bank was now focusing on the agriculture sector. In this area, farmers opened over 300,000 accounts with NMB Bank Plc last year to partly help the bank to raise the number of its customers by 24 per cent to reach 2.7 million from 2.1 million in 2016.
“With the support from the government and FSDT [Financial Sector Deepening Trust], we want to reach as many Tanzanians as possible. Figures show that it is only 17 per cent of adult Tanzanians that have bank accounts…There is still work to do to meet the financial inclusion goals,” she said.