Yasin Kironde
22 December 2008
Kampala — THE International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) have launched a programme to fund small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the region.
"The Africa micro, small and medium enterprises (AMSME), is aimed at making small businesses more profitable.
"We want to train the small business owners on how they can choose the right investments and avail them with capital," the DTB chief executive officer, Varghese Thambi, said, adding that the collaborative programme was targeting small businesses across DTB's operations in East Africa.
IFC is the World Bank private lending arm.
Thambi said the programme would initially be accessed by DTB clients operating agro-businesses and those who wish to start SMEs. He added that the bank had embarked on an expansion programme throughout the region, which once completed, would make it one of the top banks in the region.
"The DTB group plans to increase its branches in East Africa from 23 to 35 by the end of next year and over 100 in three years," he said, while addressing the bank's clients at an end-of-year cocktail party at the Kampala Serena Hotel.
Thambi said the expansion would be financed by capital generated from the bank's rights issue, which he said increased their capital by 50%.
He said the bank would also start offering new products like Visa credit and debit cards, internet and mobile banking because it had acquired a modern information and technology (IT) system.
Most banks have of late put focus on lending to SMEs as they form the bulk of businesses in Uganda.
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