NMB: How Sh572 billion in EU financing will boost lending

 

NMB Bank treasurer Aziz Chacha (right) and the Director of financial Institution of the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO), Marnix Monsfort (second left) display the Memorandum of Understanding after signing financing arrangements on behalf of their institutions in Dar es Salaam at the weekend. PHOTO | COURTESY

By Alex Nelson Malanga

Business journalist

Summary

·          The amount includes a credit line of 100 million euros from EIB, a $125 million syndicated loan arranged by Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank and a $11 million risk sharing facility from FMO

Dar es Salaam. NMB Bank Plc said yesterday that the Sh572 billion financing support that it has secured from three European Union (EU) lenders would be vital in helping it to consolidate lending activities.

The bank, which last year alone disbursed over Sh1 trillion in new loans, signed two long-term loans amounting to Sh546 billion and a Sh26 billion credit guarantee facility with European lenders during the Tanzania-EU Business Forum that ended on Friday last week.

The amount includes a credit line of 100 million Euros from the European Investment Bank (EIB); a $125 million syndicated loan arranged by Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank (FMO) and another $11 million risk sharing facility from FMO.

The $125 million syndicated loan arranged by FMO is financed jointly with the French Development Finance Institution (Proparco) whose contribution to the total facility is $50 million.

Speaking before the signing of the deals, NMB Treasurer Aziz Chacha said the business financing partnerships with the European financiers have come at the right time for the bank and the whole country at large.

“These arrangements will allow us to expand our sustainable and inclusive financing activities as we seek to spur growth in the gender space and blue economy,” Mr Chacha noted adding that the lender extended new loans amounting to Sh1.3 trillion in 2022.

He attributed the deals to the government’s good business environment which makes the country attractive to foreign capital and new investors.

Apart from supporting businesses led by women and blue economy projects, the funds NMB has acquired will also be used to finance general enterprises (MSMEs) and agribusinesses.

Mr Chacha said the deal with FMO and Proparco demonstrates the confidence the two institutions have in NMB Bank and showcases the bank’s growing status as a trusted partner in the drive of accessible and sustainable finance for all.

“Via this new facility, we believe the funding will have a great impact on the country’s MSMEs, women owned businesses and agribusiness that employs close to 70 per cent of the Tanzanian population,” Mr Chacha noted.

According to the FMO’s Director of Financial Institutions, Mr Marnix Monsfort, theirs was not only financial support but also assistance in capacity development in environmental, social, and governance practices.

The CEO of Proparco, Mr Francoise Lombard, said their involvement in the deal was mainly to advance financial inclusion of MSMEs, women-owned businesses and agribusinesses in the country.