DCB BANK SETS FOOT IN DODOMA

THE DCB Bank has inaugurated its new branch in the designate capital-Dodoma, with a call to entrepreneurs and the entire business community in the region to use the opportunity to expand their activities.

The bank which among other targets to empower entrepreneurs through issuing them loans at competitive interest rates, focuses to reach 4,500 entrepreneurs between this month and December, according to the Bank’s Managing Director, Mr Edmund Mkwawa.

Speaking at the opening ceremony that was also attended by the Minister in the President’s Office - Regional Administration and Local Government, Mr George Simbachawene, the MD said they target to reach other remaining six districts in the regions by October this year.

The MD said the bank started business as a regional microfinance institution in 2002 and the following year it was issued with a licence to carry out banking business. According to Mr Mkwawa, the bank was listed to the Dar es Salaam Stock of Exchange (DSE) in 2008, making it the first financial institution to be listed to the stock market.

He said the bank has been steadily growing, noting that the deposits have reached 117.5bn/- up from 1.8bn/- recorded in 2002. Mr Mkwawa asserted that during its operation, the bank has been able to dish out 526.4bn/- as loans to 467,851 customers, promising that providing loans to its customers is one of its main role.

In this year, Mr Mkwawa noted that the bank aims at recording 3.2bn/- as profit after tax and issue loans to its customers amounting to about 105bn/-.

He appealed to the residents to build confidence on the bank, insisting that it remains one of the best financial institutions which offer good services to its customers.

The Vice Chairman of the Board, Prof Lucian Msambichaka, said Dodoma becomes their first branch outside Dar es Salaam, where they have been operating for the past 15 years. He thanked Dar es Salaam region leadership for cooperating with the bank in various areas and said they expected the same from Dodoma regional authorities.

Prof Msambichaka promised that the bank will continue with its mission of ensuring that it contributes to the economic and social development in Tanzania for Individual, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, and Corporate by developing specialised financial products and services.