Maravi

Tanzania’s Exim Bank to open branches in Zambia

Tanzania’s Exim Bank to open branches in Zambia
By Chiwoyu Sinyangwe
Tue 27 Apr. 2010, 09:40 CAT

THE Bank of Tanzania has sanctioned plans by Exim Bank Tanzania to open more subsidiaries in Zambia and Djibouti as part of its expansion programme, managing director Sabetha Mwambenja has said.

Exim Bank last year continued to maintain speedy growth, with all the key financial indicators escalating despite the global financial crunch.

Mwambenja made the revelations when announcing the bank’s last year performance, which included an increase of 20.14 per cent of total assets to 584 billion Tanzanian shillings compared to 486 billion Tanzanian shillings in 2008.

Exim Bank Tanzania already operates in the Comoros where it has two branches.

It is the only local bank that currently operates outside Tanzania.
Tanzania’s capital account regulations require businesses to seek permission from the central bank to venture abroad.

“We have obtained a business licence from the Bank of Tanzania to operate subsidiary branches in Djibouti and Zambia. This is to pursue our goal of being a regional bank,” Mwambenja told journalists at a press briefing in Dar es Salaam.

She said the operations in Zambia and Djibouti would officially commence in June this year.

She also said that the bank plans to introduce a special housing finance programme for its staff in the next three months.
It will be known as E-MPOWER.

On last year’s performance, Mwambenja said Exim recorded a pre-tax profit increase of 13.29 per cent from 15.8 billion shillings in 2008 to 18 billion shillings.

The bank expects the performance to improve further this year despite troubles of the national economy emanating from the global financial and economic crisis.

“We have positioned well to overcome the last year’s challenges, and we hope our total assets will reach about Sh1 trillion by the end of this year,” said Mwambenja.

The bank's total deposit base grew by 27.97 per cent to 478 billion shillings from 373.5 billion shillings during the review period, and its loans and advances went up by 28.78 per cent to 264 billion shillings last year from 205 billion shillings posted in the previous year.

Labels: EXIM BANK, TANZANIA

posted by MrK @ 2:59 PM