Browsing: Tanzania

KCB Group is seeking to deepen its new women proposition, committing billions of shillings towards funding women owned and women run enterprises.

According to the bank, the drive is meant to strengthen its diversity and inclusivity focus as part of its sustainability agenda by simplifying financial inclusion for women.

The programme dubbed ‘Women Value Proposition’ has seen the bank disburse loans worth Ksh7.1 billion (US$68.9 million) to 1,400 women to date, KCB said in its current Sustainability Report.

It is aimed at increasing credit facilities to women alongside, providing them with technical and non- financial support.

READ ALSO:KCB commits Ksh10 million for Afro-Asia Fintech Summit

The initiative is in line with KCB Sustainability 10-point action plan on diversity and inclusion. This pillar aims to incorporate gender diversity as part of its strategic initiative to ensure that we encourage more women to take up key roles in business ventures.

“KCB …

Silafrica, a leading packaging supplier to East Africa and surrounding regions and trusted supplier to some of the largest food and beverage brands like Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Diageo, Heineken, Unilever, and others, has become the first African-based company in the packaging industry to join the Pledge 1% movement.

Pledge 1% is a global movement that encourages and empowers companies of all sizes and stages of growth to give one percent of either their profit, equity, staff time or product to any charity of their choosing.

This global campaign is dedicated to creating a new normal, whereby giving back is integrated into the DNA of companies, regardless of their size. Comprised of more than 8,500 companies in over 100 countries, it encourages and challenges these companies to pledge one percent of equity, profit, product and employee time to their communities.

With headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya it has manufacturing hubs in Kenya, Tanzania, …

The Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) project, is a railway under construction in Tanzania which was seeded in 2016, linking the country’s strategic regions and neighboring countries including, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the anticipated project with the line length of approximately 1,800 kilometers, intends to revolutionize mobility and distribution of commodities in Tanzania, through replacing the ineffective meter-gauge railway system.

The Turkish (Yapi Merkez)  contractor, is on the clock to bring to life the awaited transportation machine that, might transform Tanzania’s economy (for starters; production, labor supply, and consumption). Tanzania Railway Corporation (TRC), the state-owned railway company, oversees a strategic railway network of 2,561 kilometers length, of which is a 112-year-old German colonial transportation remnant. Running from Dar es Salaam (nation’s
business hub) to Kigoma, then having a north-south connection Korogwe to Ruvu. More than USD 1.2 billion has been attached to the project, which …

A region in Tanzania that focused on improving obstetric care services potentially averted an estimated 2,100 maternal deaths between 2011–2018, according to data released by the CDC Foundation. The data include the results of treatment provided by all emergency obstetric care facilities in the Kigoma Region, where maternal deaths were among the highest in Tanzania, a nation which has the sixth-highest number of maternal deaths in the world.

The Maternal and Reproductive Health in Tanzania Project began in 2006 as a collaborative effort with the Tanzanian government to prevent maternal deaths and increase access to emergency obstetric care and other reproductive health services by upgrading health facilities and training health workers. The CDC Foundation has supported the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in monitoring and evaluating the program since 2010.

The new data released by the CDC Foundation provide new information related to maternal mortality and …

Jervois has completed its merger with eCobalt after receiving eCobalt’s nod from its Canadian shareholders and Supreme Court of British Columbia approvals. According to a joint announcement, following the successful completion of the Arrangement, all conditions precedent have been met and settlement of the A$16.5 million equity placement in Jervois has occurred.

The expanded company has projects in Australia, East Africa, and the US, including eCobalt’s Idaho Cobalt project, which boasts the highest combination of cobalt grade and scale in North America.

The acquisition of M2 Cobalt gave Jervois an entry into Uganda, complementing its East African strategy looking at opportunities around the historic Kilembe mine and Kasese cobalt refinery.

Idaho Cobalt Project has been renamed Idaho Cobalt Operations (“ICO”) to reflect its advanced stage of development and Jervois’s intention to transform the site into a mining operation. The site has had an estimated US$100 million invested to date in …

Every plastic bag, paying little heed to thickness, will be restricted from being imported, sent out, made, sold, put away, or provided for use in Tanzania.

Visitors to East Africa’s most populous nation, nearly 57 million, have been told to expel plastic bags from their baggage before traveling.

WWF Nation Executive Dr. Amani Ngusaru has complimented the administration for venturing up the battle against plastic contamination in the nation. He said WWF Tanzania is inspired with the Tanzania government’s choice to boycott the utilization of plastic bags.

“Plastic is a number one polluter of environment and a silent killer of our natural environment and resources than most people understand. This is because it takes more than a hundred years for a single plastic bag to decay. We are happy that Tanzania is among the very few African countries to ban the use of plastic bags and we will work hard …

The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) has set aside Ths.127.3 billion ($55.3 million) for funding agriculture projects in the country for three years beginning January 2020.

A State House statement said that IFAD president Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo revealed this on 20^th May 2019 when he held talks with President John Magufuli.

Houngbo who was in the country for a three-day official visit hailed president Magufuli`s government for the strong efforts in implementing various development projects including those funded by IFAD.

He said after setting aside the funds, IFAD is now waiting for the Tanzanian government to indicate key areas for the money to be allocated, noting that he hopes the projects will be implemented since Tanznaia is a peaceful country, and given the way the government has shown its commitment.

In his remarks President Magufuli thanked the international agency for the support and promised that the working …

Towards the June 1^st deadline for the use of plastic bags in the country, the government is in talks with 15 industries that manufacture alternative bags to increase production.

The Minister for Industry and Trade, Joseph Kakunda said in his 2019/2020 ministerial estimates speech that the government welcomes new investors to help raise available alternative shopping and wrapping material.

Environment friendly bags can be made from easily available raw materials like cotton and sisal, among others, in like manner as baskets and straw bags of various sorts.

Mufindi Paper Mills is one among industries instructed to produce substantial amounts of paper bags to meet the demand, he said.

The minister asked the legislature to approve Tshs.100.3 billion ($43.6 million) for the financial year whereby Ths.48.8 billion ($21.2 million) meets the recurrent needs while Tshs.51.5 billion ($22.3 million) is used for development purposes.

The government has taken various strategic steps …

The country`s coffee production is projected to dwindle by 23 per cent in the 2019-2020 season.

Africa`s fourth biggest coffee producer, Tanzania said the overall production in coffee would drop by 23 per cent in the next period due to delayed rainfall in the Northern regions, according to the Tanzania Coffee Board.

The crop for the season that starts in July may decline to 50,000 tonnes, the Tanzania Coffee Board stated on Monday 13^th May, 2019 in a statement. It said last month that the country had experienced dryness in many growing areas, and that farmers would start collecting crops in May in the Kagera and Mara regions of the country.

After missing earlier targets to boost production, the country is considering distributing seedlings to farmers in an effort to double supply in five years. Arabica coffee accounts for more than half of Tanzania`s output, and it mainly ships …

Data and M-pesa transactions accounted for almost 50 per cent of Vodacom Tanzania Plc`s income last year thanks to an over Tshs.170 billion ($73.9 million) investment to expand and modernize the network.

Vodacom`s Finance Director, Jacques Marais said in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday 14<sup>th</sup> May 2019 during a briefing to investors and the media of the company`s annual results for the year ending March 2019.

Marais said M-pesa remained a leading revenue growth with an increase of 14.5 per cent during the period with seven million customers using the service regularly transacting a record Tshs.49.3 billion ($21.4 million) per month.

`During the year, we added 620,000 new M-pesa customers, a growth of 9.7 per cent M-pesa transaction volumes increased 16.4 per cent and M-pesa values transacted grew 16 per cent,` he said while noting that `Lipa kwa M-pesa` platform had 11,000 merchants who processed Tshs.1.1 trillion ($478.2 million) …