NMB Bank has said it is currently able to lend a single customer more than tsh.500 billion to support business operations and other productive activities, including agriculture, livestock, manufacturing and mining, thanks to its large capital base.
This has been said by the bank’s Head of Business Banking Department, Alex Mgeni recently in Mbeya during a special event with business personnel from the Southern Highlands regions who are major clients of the bank (NMB Business Club).
He said the aim of providing these loans is to grow customers’ activities and that loans are offered through various solutions the bank has established, depending on the amount the customer needs.
Mgeni also urged customers to continue using the bank’s digital services, including NMB Mobile and Internet Banking. “These services NMB Mobile and Internet Banking are intended to save customers time and the cost of visiting our branches,” he said.
He added that the bank has introduced a loan product for clean cooking energy for businesses, with interest charged at 1% per month or 12% per year.
Nsolo Mlozi, Head of the Agriculture Unit at NMB, said a large proportion of the bank’s clients in the Southern Highlands are involved in activities linked to the agricultural value chain. He said some borrow to buy farm machinery, vehicles to transport produce, to purchase produce, or to buy agricultural inputs.
He noted that in the region some food crops have shifted to commercial crops as farmers increased production, including potatoes and rice. “But we also intend to start providing loans for irrigation equipment to increase agricultural productivity and to respond to climate change,” Mlozi said.
NMB Bank’s Highland’s zone manager, Wogofya Mfalamagoha said the bank is now the largest in the country, claiming it has branches in every district and agents even in rural areas. He said that two years ago the bank had 20,000 agents, but now has 60,000 spread across the country, and he urged citizens to continue trusting and making use of its services.
Some customers who attended the event praised NMB for its major successes and for being close to their businesses and contributing significantly to their economic development. One customer, Engineer Ralph Makundi, said loans from NMB enabled him to secure large contracts and build the capacity to undertake major infrastructure projects in the country. He said he is among those who benefited from the bank, noting that when he first started borrowing his construction company was in the sixth tier, but it is now in the top tier.
