The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
Bethuel Kinyori
5 September 2008
A section of the audience follows proceedings during the 6th annual general meeting of the Engineers Registration Board in Dar es Salaam yesterday.
The private sector is set to benefit from a partnership between CRDB Bank, African Development Bank and the United States Government that will aid towards promoting the sector.
A credit guarantee which would allow small holder farmers and agribusinesses to access up to $20 million in credit to invest in their enterprises and is expected to benefit more than 100 agribusiness firms, create over 5,000 new jobs and increase export revenue.
Speaking during a signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the parties, US ambassador Mark Green said supporting a robust private sector is the key to increasing investment, trade, and economic growth.
The MoU is in support of African entrepreneurs through joint credit guarantees and the first of its kind issued under the global partnership which will provide much needed credit for private sector investment in Tanzania's agricultural sector in which 80 per cent of the total population engages in and contributes over a third of GDP.
Credit guarantees are an important tool for sustainable development that aid overcome barriers like high interest rates as high as 18.6 per cent in 2008 and perceived risks of the agribusiness sector.
The partnership launched yesterday enables the US government and AfDB to share risk with CRDB, and revitalize financial services in the agricultural sector by: encouraged local lending to agriculture schemes, eliminates exchange rate risk and strengthening public-private partnerships in development.
The move shows a strong commitment to encouraging business and investment across this great nation a statement by CRDB read.
It went on to say that the credit guarantee provides a risk sharing mechanism for CRDB Bank to venture into medium and long-term credit, as well as increase the number of loans they provide to agriculture-linked enterprises.
The signing ceremony was also attended by the minister of Agriculture, Food security, and Cooperatives, Mr Stephen Wassira, and officials from CRDB and AfDB.
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