NMB BANK TIES A KNOT WITH EUROPEAN INVESTIMENT BANK

National Microfinance Bank Pls (NMB) signed a Euro 70 million loan agreement with European Investment Bank (EIB) to support NMB’s growing Micro-, Small and Medium Business (MSME) customers. 

 In this transaction, the first in many years by EIB for a Tanzanian borrower, NMB will be able to obtain long term funding at affordable pricing to support the working capital and investment needs of the bank’s MSME customers nationwide.

 Says Filbert Mponzi, the head of NMB’s MSME business: “NMB lends to some 45,000 micro enterprises nationwide, and to some 10,000 SME’s through it’s 150 branches and business centres nationwide. We disburse some USD 20 million dollars per month to MSME’s in sectors such as trade, agro processing, services, and manufacturing. Most of these loans are for not longer than a year, with average amounts not exceeding TZS 30 million per customer, but with these EIB facilities we will also be able to provide medium term loans.”

 NMB Chief Financial Officer, Mr. Waziri Barnabas added: “NMB already has one of the strongest and healthiest banks in the Tanzanian banking sector, but through this EIB facility we will also be able to match the tenors of our funding sources with those of our medium term customer loans, thus further improving the quality of our balance sheet”.

 The Chief Executive Officer of NMB, Mr. Mark Wiessing commented that NMB is close to its 1.8 Million customers who are reflective of Tanzania as a whole: from Government to the private sector, from civil servants and other salaried to informal traders, from agriculture to MSME, all sectors are represented. He pointed out that the MSME segment is particularly promising and growing rapidly, and represents some 20% of the bank’s lending activities.

 Mr. Wiessing added during the signing ceremony held on 27 june in Nairobi:  “The EIB facilities will allow us to continue providing longer tenor and affordable loans to more micro enterprises and emerging SME’s, which are the real engine of economic growth for the country and the only source of income for so many Tanzanians. It is also a strong sign of confidence of EIB in NMB, the country’s largest and most profitable bank, and in Tanzania as a whole.”