THE Kilimanjaro Co-operative Bank Limited (KCBL) is tipped to become a national cooperative bank.

The need of turning KCBL was vivid during the national debate to direct the nation on creating a cooperative bank. The lender is the only cooperative bank in the country.

The bank last year made a pre-tax profit of 318m/- after massive capitalisation by CRDB Bank Plc.

The Minister for Agriculture Mr Hussein Bashe said recently in Moshi, Kilimanjaro that the government was determined to have the national cooperative bank to improve the agricultural and cooperative sectors.

"The stage at which the process of establishing the national cooperative bank has reached is satisfactory," Mr Bashe said in speech read on his behalf by the Registrar of Cooperatives Dr Benson Ndiege.

The minister also challenged 'wananchi' especially cooperative stakeholders to buy KCBL shares to enable the bank get the capital of 15bn/- required to establish the national cooperative bank.

Mr Bashe said they would continue to work with KCBL and other stakeholders including the Moshi Cooperative University (MoCU) Tanzania Co-operative Development Commission (TCDC) and the CRDB toward establishing the national co-operative bank.

KCBL General Manager Mr Godfrey Ng'urah said the bank managed to cut down non-performing loans from 74 per cent and to 3.0 per cent last year.

The number of KCBL customers also increased from over 12,000 to some 15,700 at the end of last year.

Mr Ng'urah said the nation cooperative bank establishment needs a total of 20bn/, out of the pledged 8.0bn/- and the headquartered in Dodoma.

The cooperative union members will be the majority shareholders 51 per cent while 49 per cent of the shares will go to the private secto individuals and companies.