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Tanzania licences new commercial bank

Monday January 08 2018
Gt bank

A Guaranty Trust Bank (Kenya) signpost. Tanzania’s central bank on Friday issued a banking license to a new commercial bank - Guaranty Trust Bank (Tanzania) Limited. FILE PHOTO | NATION

By KIPLAGAT EDWIN

Tanzania’s central bank on Friday issued a banking license to a new commercial bank - Guaranty Trust Bank (Tanzania) Limited.

“The license allows the bank to carry out banking business in Tanzania as a commercial bank,” BoT said in a statement.

The new bank’s head office will be based in Dar es Salaam. The bank has its origins in Nigeria and already has a presence in Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda. In Kenya, it acquired Fina Bank.

The entry of Guaranty Trust Bank (Tanzania) Limited puts the total number of commercial banks operating in the country to 38.

It comes after BoT revoked licences for Covenant Bank for Women, Efatha Bank Limited, Njombe Community Bank Limited, Meru Community Bank Limited, and Kagera Farmers’ Cooperative Bank Limited. They were all community banks.

The move came after President John Magufuli ordered the regulator to take action against banks with inadequate capital.

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“We have 58 banks in Tanzania. We want the banking regulator to take action against the failing institutions. We would rather have a few viable banks than many failing ones,” the president said at the time.

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