Exim Bank dishes out 13bn/- to support women empowerment

By Staff Reporter

EXIM Bank Tanzania has dished out up to 13bn/- to support women in various parts of the country in the last four years through its Women Entrepreneurs Financing Programme (WEF) it has been revealed.

The bank’s support is in line with Government’s efforts to eradicate house hold poverty through women empowerment.

Speaking during the just concluded Month of Women Entrepreneurs (MOWE) in Dar es Salaam recently, the bank’s WEF Program Officer Neema Langa said the bank has chosen to support women empowerment to enhance their contribution in economic development.

MOWE is an annual event widely used to promote the roles played by women entrepreneurs as well as brining issues of concern in Women Entrepreneurship Development (WED) to policy makers and all other stakeholders.

“We chose to empower women due to the fact that their contribution to the country’s economic development can not be under-estimated.

“Ever since the institution of the WEF Programme in 2007, up to 300 women have so far benefited and a total of 13bn/- has been distributed,” she said.

Neema said the bank has also empowered women engaging in small and medium enterprises with basic skills on creating sustainable and profit making businesses. 

On her part the Exim Bank Women’s Programme Manager Felister Simba during the event that reflected on the country’s 5o years of interdependence said time was ripe for women to be self-reliant.

“Women in today’s generation need to be self-reliant. With due respect, we as Exim Bank have opened up special accounts for women dubbed Tumaini account that has very few conditions,” she said.

She said the bank’s participation in the event was to sensitize various women groups on the available opportunities in the bank’s WEF programme.

Exim Bank (Tanzania) Limited provides retail and corporate banking services in Tanzania and the Union of Comoro with the company’s credit portfolio covering various sectors that includes agriculture, fishing, forestry, hunting, finance, insurance and real estate among others.