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| NCBA Bank Tanzania Managing Director and CEO, Alex Mziray speaks at the event. |
Dar es Salaam; August 17, 2026 - For many entrepreneurs, the biggest challenge is not having a business idea or finding an opportunity. It is having the resources and support needed to take advantage of that opportunity when it comes.
A transport operator may win a new contract but need additional vehicles to fulfil it. A manufacturer may have growing demand for its products but lack the machinery to increase production. A retailer may see an opportunity to expand but need additional working capital to make the move.
These realities took centre stage on Friday as NCBA Bank Tanzania hosted its SME Business Clinic in Dar es Salaam, bringing together entrepreneurs and business stakeholders for conversations around financing, business management, risk protection, digital solutions and sustainable growth.
The Clinic provided entrepreneurs with an opportunity to engage with financial experts, share some of the challenges they face in running their businesses and explore practical solutions to help them move to the next stage of their journey.
Speaking at the event, NCBA Bank Tanzania Managing Director and CEO Alex Mziray said the bank's approach to SMEs is centred on understanding the ambition behind the business rather than simply responding to a financing request.
“Every entrepreneur comes with a dream, but that dream needs the right support to become a reality. Our role is to understand that ambition and help the customer take the next step,” he said.
One of the key areas of focus was Asset Finance, which continues to play an important role for businesses whose growth depends on acquiring productive assets.
For an entrepreneur in transport, an additional truck can mean the ability to take on a new contract. For a manufacturer, new machinery can increase production, while equipment can give a construction company the capacity to undertake larger projects.
This is the thinking behind NCBA's “Ndoto Zako, Hatua Zetu” campaign, which seeks to position Asset Finance as a tool that helps businesses translate their ambitions into tangible progress.
“An asset is not just an asset. It is what that asset enables the business to do. It can create capacity, open new opportunities and support growth,” Mziray said.
The conversation, however, went beyond acquiring assets. As businesses grow and their investments increase, so does the need to protect what they have built.
This brought Bancassurance into the wider SME growth conversation, with entrepreneurs encouraged to consider insurance as part of their overall business and risk-management strategy. For a business that depends heavily on a vehicle, machine or other productive asset, an unexpected loss or damage can disrupt operations and put pressure on cash flow.
“Growth must also be protected. When we help a customer acquire an asset, we also want them to understand how to protect that investment and build resilience into their business,” Mziray noted.
The Clinic also highlighted the fact that access to finance, while important, is only one part of building a successful business. Entrepreneurs also need financial knowledge, effective cash-flow management, compliance, digital tools and the ability to manage risks as their businesses expand.
For NCBA, this is where its philosophy of “Banking on Belief. Empowering Ambitions.” comes into play. The bank sees its role as extending beyond providing financial products to understanding the different stages of an entrepreneur's journey and providing relevant support along the way.
“We do not want our relationship with an SME to begin and end with a transaction. We want to understand the business, its ambitions and the challenges it faces, and then look at how we can support it as it grows,” Mziray said.
The discussions at the SME Clinic come at a time when SMEs continue to play an important role in Tanzania's economy, creating employment, supporting households and driving activity across sectors ranging from trade and transport to agriculture, manufacturing and services.
For many of these businesses, the next stage of growth will depend on their ability to access the right resources at the right time.
And sometimes, that next step is a vehicle, a machine or a piece of equipment. Sometimes it is access to knowledge, better financial management or protection against unforeseen risks.
What matters, as the discussions at the NCBA SME Clinic demonstrated, is having a partner who understands that behind every business is an ambition—and behind every ambition is a next step.
For NCBA, that is the essence of “Ndoto Zako, Hatua Zetu.”
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