TANZANIA MORTGAGE REFINANCE CO. LTD. EXTENDS LOANS WORTH SH34 BILLION TO MEMBER BANKS FOR MORTGAGE FINANCING

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania Mortgage Refinance Company Limited (TMRC) - a private sector institution owned by the banks with sole purpose of supporting banks to do mortgage lending - has extended Sh34 billion worth of loans to its members during the past three years.

“To date CRDB, Azania Bank, Bank of Africa, Exim Bank, BancABC, I&M Bank and DCB Commercial Bank have borrowed from TMRC,” the TMRC Chief Executive Officer, Mr Oscar Mgaya, said in Dar es Salaam recently.

These banks which are also shareholders of Tanzania Mortgage Refinance Company Limited (TMRC) seek to make mortgaging easy, a move meant to help the country’s citizens buy or build affordable and decent housing units.

Twelve commercial banks are members and shareholders of TMRC. They include National Microfinance Bank Plc (NMB), CRDB Bank Plc., National Bank of Commerce (NBC), Exim Bank, Azania Bank, TIB Development Bank (TIB), DCB Commercial Bank Plc., NIC Bank, Banc ABC, The People’s Bank of Zanzibar (PBZ), I&M Bank and Bank of Africa Tanzania (BOA). TMRC was formed as part of the Government of Tanzania and the World Bank initiative to increase citizens’ access to mortgage finance in the country.

The formation of TMRC is one of the three components of Tanzania’s Housing Finance Project (HFP) which is geared towards the development of the mortgage market in Tanzania. The other two components of HFP are development of housing microfinance and expansion of affordable housing supply.

Getting a mortgage in Tanzania used to be very difficult because most banks did not offer the product.

“Since the formation of TMRC, the tenures of mortgage loans have increased from 5 – 10 years to 15 – 20 years. Furthermore, the number of institutions offering mortgage loans has also increased from 3 to 19 banks. Due to increased competition, interest rates have also dropped from 22 per cent four (4) years ago to 16 per cent now,” said Mr. Mgaya.