CRDB Bank is now Tanzania’s largest financial services pro- vider by assets and has a 25% market share. It is rooted in the country’s post-independence history. Following the denationalisation strategy of the Tanzanian government, the bank was privatised in 1996 and be- came CRDB Bank.

The bank has set itself ambitious but achievable targets for its growth. It plans to treble its current TSh20trn ($) balance sheet to TSh60-70trn ($24-28bn) over the next decade. It also expects to increase its foreign footprint from the current three countries to more over the same period. This would place it firmly among the ranks of the continent’s fastest-growing financial institutions.

“We’re always guided by a long-term vision,” explains Prof. Mori, the bank’s chairperson. “Our strategic plans typi- cally run in five-year cycles. The current strategy, which began in 2023, will take us through to 2027. After that, we’ll em- bark on the next five-year plan, which will represent another phase of our growth journey.”

CRDB Bank is already registering annual growth figures of 20-30%. Mori credits this to a combination of factors. “Yes, the [national] economy is expanding at about 6%, but our growth has been faster be- cause of how diversified our business is. We serve the public sector and government institutions, but our main focus remains the private sector.”

The private sector has benefitted from a wave of policy reforms designed to make Tanzania more attractive to investors.

“The government has done a lot to im- prove the business environment, making it easier for local entrepreneurs to thrive and for international investors to come in. At the same time, major infrastructure pro- jects are being rolled out, and we’ve been active in providing financing for those.”

Tanzania’s macroeconomic stability has also been critical to CRDB Bank’s sustained success. The country’s inflation rate has remained relatively low, hovering below 5%, which is as much good news for the bank as it is for borrowers.

“Stable inflation and a steady currency have been very helpful for us,” Mori ex- plains. “When prices aren’t rising sharply and the shilling remains stable, it gives us predictability in how we operate.

“When we issue a loan that, for ex- ample, matures in five years, we can do so knowing that the borrower won’t face unexpected inflation shocks that make repayment difficult. Because prices are stable, our clients can service their loans smoothly, and we can manage risk more effectively,” she says.

The country’s relatively stable inflation rate is another benefit. “When inflation is under control, it means that the salaries we pay retain their value. Our employees [over 4,000] are able to sustain their living standards, and that contributes to morale and productivity. It all ties back to the wider stability of the economy,” she notes.

CRDB Bank’s exposure cuts across the full economic spectrum – from microen- terprises and small traders to large cor- porates and public entities.

“The SME sector is expanding rapidly,” Mori notes. “We’ve seen microenterprises evolve into small businesses, small ones grow into medium-sized companies, and eventually some become large enterpris- es. We are supporting all these stages. That’s why we’re able to sustain growth rates above the national average, be- cause we’re present in every segment of the economy.”

These benefits extend to the bank’s shareholders. More than 30% of the bank’s shares are held by the public through the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange – an un- common level of retail participation for a listed African bank.

Alongside institutional investors and pension funds, thousands of ordinary Tanzanians own a stake in the country’s largest financial institution, making CRDB Bank one of the most actively traded stocks on the exchange.

“For many years, it was believed that people were not aware of how capital markets work,” Mori observes. “But what we’ve seen through CRDB Bank’s experi-ence is that people are becoming aware of the importance of participating in the capital markets.”

Pan-African ambitions

As the bank pursues its pan-African ambi- tions, investor participation will become even more critical and Mori says the bank is working to bring in more people and institutions for the journey.

“We are inviting them to continue being participants because the performance is good. And we have even been doing inves- tor meetings to invite private institutions to invest. We tell them the story. We show them the numbers. We explain what we are doing, how we are performing and invite them to become shareholders. And that’s why we have shareholders from outside Tanzania and within,” she says.

The bank is looking further afield than the continent. It recently became the first East Africa-domiciled bank to establish a representative office in Dubai where Mori sees opportunities and potential partner- ships.

The United Arab Emirates has become one of the most dynamic hubs connect- ing Africa to Asia and beyond. For CRDB Bank, establishing a presence there means that it is able to serve its customers who are also expanding into the region. In the same vein, Mori adds, the Bank now has desks for countries where it sees increased activity.

Interestingly, it’s exploring synergies with Air Tanzania, as travel volumes can provide an indication of where business is going or, indeed, coming from. “Looking at the way Air Tanzania flies and the way the bank is doing, you can see that we complement each other.”

Due to this continuing engagement with the international market, Ms Neema Mori had made the trip to Washington for the meetings of the World Bank and the In- ternational Monetary Fund. These meet- ings draw the cream of the international investor and financial worlds and provide an ideal opportunity to network.

The aim is to generate interest in Tan- zania’s mining, agriculture, tourism and other expanding sectors. “We are also dis- cussing how to enhance SME financing and financial inclusion. We are talking to partners in that space as well as in trade finance, because we need to support the businesspeople who are doing international transactions or international business. Our conversation has been around that,” she says.

Despite the fact that an increasing number of international banks have been retreating from the continent, Mori says it is necessary to continue engaging with international partners. “We are growing and we need to engage. We need to be vis- ible,” she points out.

She adds that the bank has robust re- lationships with development finance in- stitutions. “We have been doing a lot of engagements just to be able to get their buy-in and to let them know that we are very serious about what we are doing.” It also helps that the regulator in Tanzania has seen to the implementation of Basel II and III, providing cover for local players to engage with international institutions with confidence.

Focus on ESG and technology

One area where CRDB Bank is putting re- newed focus is environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles. While this seems to have lost favour in some quar- ters, Mori says that the bank remains fully committed to it. “It is important to us,” she says firmly, “because when you look at it, we already had, or were practising ESG even before it started being talked about.”

This is at least in part due to CRDB Bank’s strong presence in Tanzania’s ag- ricultural sector, where environmental and social considerations are by their nature, necessary for success. So instead of re- treating, CRDB Bank has instead doubled down. “Now we are able to implement it in a better way, in a more formalised way and that’s why we have been able to produce the reports on ESG last year and this year,” she points out.

Keeping up with the global technologi-cal trend, the bank is placing digitalisa- tion at the centre of its growth strategy, part of what Mori refers to as making it a “futuristic bank”.

This, she says, includes applying the full might of artificial intelligence to bet- ter serve its customers. “You cannot have a futuristic bank without really leveraging AI and the digital arena,” she affirms.

The transformation is already un- derway. Although the bank maintains a strong physical presence across Tanzania, with 261 branches, the vast majority of transactions now occur outside tradi- tional banking halls. “We have a lot of digital tools, digital platforms which we are using to make sure that our customers are able to access services wherever they are. 98% of transactions conducted take place outside the branch.”

The bank is a strong barometer of the political climate. She says that the up- coming elections [29 October] have not disrupted the business atmosphere in any way. Mori insists that the outlook is positive, especially in the mining, energy, and real estate sectors. Infra- structure, in which the government has invested tremendously, is also expected to open up the economy to the region and beyond.

While these growth trends offer a healthy future for the financial sector, CRDB Bank and others in Tanzania’s banking sector may find themselves needing to expand even more rapidly to match the level of demand that will be occasioned. n

The government has done a lot to improve the business environment, making it easier for local entrepreneurs to thrive and for international investors to come in.

When you look at it, we already had, or were practising ESG, even before it started being talked about.

CRDB Bank signs landmark partnerships during Washington forum

CRDB Bank has entered three landmark partnerships with leading development finance institutions: FinDev Canada, DEG (KfW Group, Germany), and Shelter Afrique Development Bank (ShafDB), marking a significant milestone in its transformation journey to advance inclusive and sustainable finance across Africa.

The Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) were signed during the CRDB Bank Investors and Partners Forum, held on the sidelines of the World Bank and IMF Annual Meetings in Washington D.C., in partnership with Invest Africa.

The high-level forum convened global investors and senior government officials from Tanzania, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

Attendees included the Minister of Finance of Burundi, the Minister of Information of the DRC, the Governors of the Central Banks of Tanzania and Burundi, the Ambassadors of Tanzania and Burundi to the United States, and the Permanent Treasury Secretary from the Ministry of Finance of Tanzania, Dr Natu El-Maamry Mwamba, who was leading the Tanzania delegation to the World Bank and IMF Meetings and served as the Guest of Honour.

East Africa faces persistent gaps in financing for MSMEs, climate-smart agriculture, and affordable housing. CRDB Bank has positioned itself as a regional driver of transformation, addressing these challenges by mobilising capital, expertise, and technology to create tangible impact for communities and businesses.

The agreements were formalised by CRDB Bank’s Group CEO & Managing Director, Abdulmajid Nsekela, alongside the CEO of Shelter Afrique Development Bank, Thierno-Habib, CEO of DEG, Roland Siller and CEO of FinDev Canada, Lori Kerr.

• Through its partnership with FinDev Canada, CRDB Bank secured a $60m facility to expand financing for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, with a strong emphasis on women.

• With DEG, CRDB Bank will unlock a $50m facility dedicated to SME sub- loans, supporting business growth, innovation, and job creation in Tanzania.

• The partnership with Shelter Afrique Development Bank addresses the region’s housing deficit, beginning with a $10m facility for CRDB Bank DRC.

By combining its strong East African presence with the strategic reach of its Dubai Representative Office, CRDB Bank is positioning itself not only as a regional champion of inclusive finance but also as a trusted bridge to global markets. These partnerships underscore the Bank’s ambition to extend its impact across the continent and beyond, supporting inclusive prosperity and sustainable growth.

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