Vision-Fund launches bank in Arusha

As the government works to encourage nomadic pastoralists who hoard large herds of livestock to convert their animals into cash, local financial institutions have been advised to follow herders wherever they are to provide them with banking services.

Speaking during the official opening of the new Vision-Fund Bank in Arusha on Tuesday, the Regional Commissioner, Mr Magessa Mulongo, revealed that in the wake of the drought spell which decimated thousands of livestock in Monduli, Longido and Ngorongoro Districts, a few years ago, the state has advised pastoralists to start selling part of their cattle and invest the money in banks.

"Once they transform their cattle into cash, the Maasai and other pastoralists in the country will definitely need coffers to deposit their money but local financial institutions do not seem to be in a hurry to venture out to rural areas where the majority of Tanzanians, including herders, are found," he said.

The Swedish Ambassador to Tanzania Mr Lennarth Hjelmaker who officially inaugurated the new Vision-Fund Bank and Micro-finance Company, was of the  view that against the backdrop of little penetration of banking services in

Tanzania, most of the country’s youth and women population were left out. “It is mostly the adult male population which is covered under the mainstream financial services in the country even though they form the majority of workforce in Tanzania,” stated the Sweden envoy to but added that with the advent of mobile banking system at least the gap is being reduced though not as much as intended.

The Deputy Executive for Vision-Fund, Ms Joyce Temu said the former micro-finance institution facility has now been licensed by the Central Bank of Tanzania (BOT) to operate as a bank, offering loans to its clients and receive deposits.

After the newly opened Indian Road Branch in Arusha City, two more branches of the VisionFund bank are intended to be opened in Mwanza and Tanga cities. Previously the facility which was set up in April 1996, was offering loans to small scale growers, peasants and women traders, covering mostly low income generation groups.

Vision-Fund, hatched from the World Vision Tanzania operations in the country has so far established 12 branch offices, four field offices and an additional 32 outreach centres in Tanzania. The micro-finance institution has over 36,000 clients, with a loan book of over 13 billion/- and assets of over 23 billion/-.