Posted on January, 27, 2022 at 09:16 am
It is good news to hear that the CRDB Bank Plc has cut its lending rates to farmers as it seeks to play an increasingly important role in Tanzania’s economic development endeavours.
Indeed, it is a relief for farmers as the bank will now be charging only 9 percent instead of the usual 20 percent on agricultural loans in a move that promises the farmers of an affordable financing option to improve their operations.
The move comes within months after the administration of President Samia Suluhu Hassan --through the Bank of Tanzania (BoT)—announced several measures that it would undertake in a deliberate effort to create conditions for slashing interest rates on loans and promoting credit intermediation.
It is high time other financial institutions across the country also gave relief to the farmers in terms of reducing interest rates on loans.
By doing so, many farmers in different parts of the country will see reason to come forward and take loans from those financial institutions and engage in productive farming for their own benefit and that of the country.
The CRDB Bank Plc has not only slashed lending rates to the farmers, but also on personal loans to salaried workers to 13 percent from the usual 16 percent.
Currently, the CRDB Bank Plc feels proud to be the lender with the highest amount in loans to the agriculture sector players.
In total, the CRDB Bank Plc has extended Sh1.6 trillion in loans to various players within the agricultural value chain.
The main target by every money lender should be to stimulate agricultural production by providing affordable loans to growers.
With rapid population growth and urbanisation leading to unprecedented demand for food, there is an urgent need to ensure that farm inputs and implements are made accessible to the farmers in order for them to increase many yields for commercial and domestic purposes.
KUDOS THE AGA KHAN HOSPITAL
In yesterday’s edition, we carried a story highlighting a breakthrough in health service provision achieved by The Aga Khan Hospital in Dar es Salaam for performing a cochlear implant.
The service provider becomes Tanzania’s first private entity to perform the cochlear implant—an electronic device that enables individuals with profound hearing loss to hear through direct stimulation of the hearing nerve.
According to Egyptian professor Ahmed Mohamed Mehanna who worked with the Hospital to execute the procedure on a two-year old child, availability of the procedure in the country was very small, and hence those needing the service had to travel overseas to undergo it.
Reacting, hospital’s ENT surgeon Christopher Mwansasu said this achievement was a great step in increasing the capacity of ear and hearing care services in the country.
Indeed, there is every reason for Tanzanians to celebrate this breakthrough as bringing this procedure here means cutting huge costs that patients and their families had to incur to obtain it overseas. As we commend The Aga Khan Hospital in Dar es Salaam for this major milestone, we call on other health service provider to take lessons and do the same in this area as well as other areas of health care. We urge the government to continue creating conducive environment for service providers to keep improving the quality of their services to Tanzanians.
Source: The Citizen