Tanzania: Extend Services to Rural Areas, Cleric Tells Banks

Musoma — Mara regional Sheikh Athumani Magee has called upon commercial banks to extend their operations to remote areas.This will help people in rural areas to access financial services. "Rural dwellers are willing to join CRDB and other financial institutions but they cannot do that right now because financial services have located themselves away from them (people in remote areas)," he said.

Sheikh Magee was speaking at an Iftar organised by CRDB here on Sunday.According to a 2006 survey by Finscope, over half of Tanzania's population did not have access to any kind of formal or informal financial service until that year.
The survey on 'demand for and barriers to accessing financial services in Tanzania' also revealed that less than a tenth of the population had a bank account while over a third chose informal institutions like Village Community Banks, Rotating Savings and Credit Associations (Roscas) that are commonly known as 'Upatu' or ponzis and money lenders.
"Banks in Tanzania have every reason to be full of customers......they only need to go where people who need such services are," he said.