By The Respondents reporter
DAR ES SALAAM, February 23 – Tanzania’s Minister for Minerals, Anthony Mavunde praised a new partnership between CRDB and the Mining Commission, describing a special financial framework for small-scale miners as a transformative step in expanding access to capital across the sector.
Speaking at the launch of new banking services and the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) at the Johari Rotana, Mavunde said the mining sector contributes about 10% to Tanzania’s gross domestic product and more than 56% of foreign exchange earnings, with annual mineral exports exceeding $5 billion.
“The mining sector is now an engine of our economy. What we are witnessing today is a bridge connecting the Government’s vision with financial capital from the banking sector,” Mavunde said. “This partnership directly touches small-scale miners and elevates them into the formal economy.”
He said that under President Samia Suluhu Hassan, the government had implemented policy and regulatory reforms aimed at ensuring broader Tanzanian participation in the mining industry, particularly among artisanal and small-scale miners.
He added that the government’s longer-term objective is to promote local mineral processing and value addition rather than relying on raw exports.
The new CRDB framework introduces an alternative collateral model that recognises mining-related assets as acceptable security for loans.
For the first time in Tanzania’s banking sector, valid mining licences, gold sales contracts and stored gold held at refining facilities can be used as collateral.
CRDB Group Chief Executive Officer Abdulmajid Nsekela said the initiative establishes a comprehensive financial system covering the entire mining value chain from extraction and processing to storage, transportation and trade in domestic and international markets.
“This structure acknowledges the realities of the mining sector. We have accepted collateral derived directly from miners’ operations instead of unrelated assets,” Nsekela said, adding that the move would expand formal financing to thousands of small-scale miners previously excluded from the banking system.
The framework includes working capital loans, financing for modern equipment and machinery, gold-backed loans, insurance services through CRDB Insurance, and dedicated mineral and gold transaction accounts aimed at improving traceability and transparency.
CRDB Vice Chairperson of the Board, Dr. Donald Mmari, said the bank’s board had adopted strategic guidelines to ensure growth in the mining sector aligns with sustainability, accountability and inclusive development principles.
“We want to see small-scale miners graduate from traditional methods to improved technologies, access formal markets and participate in value addition. Growth must be sustainable and beneficial to communities,” Mmari said.
By the end of last year, CRDB had extended loans worth 186 billion Tanzanian shillings to the mining sector, including 136 billion shillings to large-scale miners and 50 billion shillings to small-scale operators.
John Bina, President of the Federation of Miners’ Associations of Tanzania (FEMATA), said the initiative offered renewed hope to small-scale miners who had struggled to secure financing due to the absence of acceptable collateral.
“Today marks the beginning of a new era. Small-scale miners have been recognised as legitimate development partners,” Bina said.
Officials said the MOU between CRDB Bank and the Mining Commission is expected to accelerate formalisation of artisanal miners, expand access to affordable capital, create jobs for youth and women in mining communities, and increase government revenues through enhanced transaction transparency and digital monitoring systems.