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Mbeya Tazara SACCOS grants 1.6 billion/- loans to members
2008-05-01 10:56:51
By Thobias Mwanakatwe, PST, Mbeya
TAZARA`S Technical Workshop savings and credit cooperative society (MBESACCO) in Mbeya municipality has disbursed a total of 1,695,087,517/- in loans to its members from 1998 to 2007.
This was revealed by the society`s chairman, Erasto Kihwele, on Monday at the launch of its new branch at Nzowe in the municipality.
Kihwele said the loans had benefited 300 members including people who were not employees of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara).
He said the loans had enabled the recipients to construct residential houses, embark on various business enterprises, meet education costs and other requirements.
Meanwhile, MBESACCO secretary Hamimu Mwanga has said that apart from the said loans, in early February, this year, members got another 150m/- loan from SELF, a loan-granting institution.
He said the institution had been granting them loans each year, adding that in the first phase it provided them with 30m/-, 60m/- in the second phase and 150m/- in the third phase.
``The loan portfolio has been growing bigger as MBESACCO has always been keen and efficient in repaying on time,`` he said.
Mwanga also said they had been cooperating with the Tanzania Federation for Cooperative Societies (SCULT) where they recently secured 10m/- as a loan.
Meanwhile, Rayner Nkala, who was the chief guest at the function, called on the people to join the network of SACCOS in order to secure loans which would facilitate in the alleviation of poverty.
``Interest rates for loans from SACCOS are immensely lower than those charged by other financial institutions,`` said Nkala, who is also chairman of Mbeya City Planning Committee.
He said by joining SACCOS, workers automatically eased their employers` burden of periodically assisting them with advances in the event of emergency.
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