Dar es Salaam. The Tanzania Bankers Association (TBA) has pledged to provide women-friendly financial products to overcome barriers such as lack of collateral for loans.
TBA chairman who is also the managing director of the National Bank of Commerce (NBC), Mr Theobald Sabi, made the remark during a high-level meeting of banking and financial leaders focused on ensuring equal access to financial services and empowering women.
He acknowledged the existing challenges, emphasising the banking sector’s commitment to addressing financial gaps through tailored services, including specialised bank accounts designed for women entrepreneurs.
He also urged for improved language accessibility to ensure financial information is available to all.
“When women-led businesses thrive, they create jobs, boost local economies and drive inclusive growth,” he said.
Bank of Tanzania (BoT) governor Emmanuel Tutuba underscored the importance of financial inclusion, stating that while progress has been made, women, especially in rural areas, still face significant barriers, including limited access to banking facilities, collateral requirement and language obstacles.
He said a recent FinScope survey revealed that despite efforts to expand financial services, gender disparities persist. To address this, banks are implementing inclusive financial strategies aimed at achieving full financial service accessibility for both genders by 2030, with a long-term goal of 50-50 financial inclusion by 2033.
“Banks are working to eliminate gender-based financial disparities, aligning with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5, which calls for gender equality and full access to financial resources for women,” he said.
He noted that TBA is set to introduce new initiatives focused on empowering women financially through specialised products and outreach programmes.
According to him, banks need to support women entrepreneurs by ensuring they have access to essential financial tools and resources.
“Micro and Small Enterprises (SMEs), particularly those led by women, are playing a crucial role in economic growth. By supporting these businesses, banks are not only empowering women but also strengthening families and contributing to national development,” he said.
He said as gender inclusion remains a priority, financial institutions recognise that closing the gender gap is both a moral obligation and an economic necessity.
“By equipping women with the right financial tools and support, the banking sector is laying the foundation for a more inclusive and prosperous future,” he said.
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Tanzania Declares End of Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak
Tanzania today declared the end of Marburg virus disease outbreak after recording no new cases over 42 days since the death of the last confirmed case on 28 January 2025.
The outbreak, in which two confirmed and eight probable cases were recorded (all deceased), was the second the country has experienced. Both this outbreak, which was declared on 20 January 2025, and the one in 2023 occurred in the north-eastern Kagera region.
In response to the latest outbreak, Tanzania’s health authorities set up coordination and response systems, with support from World Health Organization (WHO) and partners, at the national and regional levels and reinforced control measures to swiftly detect cases, enhance clinical care, infection prevention as well as strengthen collaboration with communities to raise awareness and help curb further spread of the virus.
Growing expertise in public health emergency response in the African region has been crucial in mounting effective outbreak control measures. Drawing on experience from the response to the 2023 Marburg virus disease outbreak, WHO worked closely with Tanzanian health authorities to rapidly scale up key measures such as disease surveillance and trained more than 1000 frontline health workers in contact tracing, clinical care and public health risk communication. The Organization also delivered over five tonnes of essential medical supplies and equipment.
“The dedication of frontline health workers and the efforts of the national authorities and our partners have paid off,” said Dr Charles Sagoe-Moses, WHO Representative in Tanzania. “While the outbreak has been declared over, we remain vigilant to respond swiftly if any cases are detected and are supporting ongoing efforts to provide psychosocial care to families affected by the outbreak.”
Building on the momentum during the acute phase of the outbreak response, measures have been put in place to reinforce the capacity of local health facilities to respond to potential future outbreaks. WHO and partners are procuring additional laboratory supplies and other equipment for disease detection and surveillance and other critical services.
Marburg virus disease is highly virulent and causes haemorrhagic fever. It belongs to the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease. Illness caused by Marburg virus begins abruptly. Patients present with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise. They may develop severe haemorrhagic symptoms within seven days.
In the African region, previous outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda.
Source: allafrica.com
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