Tanzania: Sh950m loan extended to Dar Saccos members

Dar es Salaam. Employees of Aluminium Africa Limited (Alaf) – a producer of corrugated iron sheets – will benefit from Sh950 million loan offered by the Parastatal Pensions Fund (PPF) to their Saccos yesterday.

The loan was meant to benefit employees who are also members of the Alaf Saccos Limited by having it for various purposes including building houses.

The Alaf Saccos chairman, Mr Said Yusufu Kitenge, said the decision to take a loan from PPF was a move to help Saccos members in their private projects and reduce the cost of living.“The salary alone is not enough to do every thing on time, so we applied for the loan from PPF to help our members in their development activities,” said Mr Kitenge.

According to him, while the Saccos loan requires a 2 per cent interest, they will be charged 1.8 per cent for the PPF loans. Speaking during a check handing over gathering outside the Alaf building, the PPF zonal manager for Temeke, Lindi and Mtwara, Mr Mr Evans Musiba, told employers in Tanzania to allow their employees to join their respective Saccos and benefit from the PPF initiative.“The employers should encourage their employees to join Saccos so that they get our loan support.

Alaf Saccos is the 31st to benefit from such an initiative and PPF has spent Sh28.58 billion since it was launched in 2004. According to the PPF senior investment officer, Mr Godbless Robiam, the loan is repaid within at least three and a maximum of five years.

Among the criteria includes the operation for at least years and having a good financial performance for all the years. The Saccos should also possess a clean certificate.