THE UK based Euromoney Magazine has awarded CRDB Bank with the Tanzania’s best bank for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) awards for Excellence in 2024.

The 30th Euromoney awards ceremony was organized to recognize banks and financial institutions in the world for their contribution to financial services, which helped improved social welfare and stimulate economic development.

“Euromoney is the largest magazine in the world for researching and recognizing banks with the experience of more than 30 years on organizing awards. We feel proud for winning this award for the third consecutive years,” said Bonaventura Paul, the director of retail banking, CRDB Bank after receiving the award.

The director said CRDB Bank has enhanced efforts to finance small and medium businesses in the country, through innovative products, which have enabled them to improve incomes and develop projects, that have contributed to stimulation of the growth of the economy and job creation.

He said the bank is financing SMEs by using only the reports of their businesses cash flows, without necessarily asked for collaterals.

“With the collaboration of various stakeholders, we are financing business owners with only purchasing order. For last year, we collaborated with Silent Ocean to enable importers of goods to secure loans of up to US$63,000 (170m/-) to finance transportation, port charges and taxes,” he said.

In 2023, the bank issued loans amounting to 8.9trn/- of which 12 percent were allocated to small and medium entreprises, which was an increase of 11 percent compared to loans issued in 2022, he said.

Paul said the bank has improved payment technology for many small and medium businesses through connecting them with digital payment systems including QR Code, internet banking and SimBanking which has made ease for them to manage their business accounts.

He said through its five year strategy 2023-2027, the bank has given priorities to MSMEs as during the first half of this year, total financing to amounted to 1.5trn/-.

Each year, 600 banks and financial institutions from across 100 countries participate in the Euromoney awards.

According to World Economic Forum (WEF), despite of being critical to economic growth in Africa, Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are facing the financing challenge.

“A healthy and expanding small business segment in Africa increases employment, broadens the tax base, grows national revenue and frees African governments to fund social and economic infrastructure,” says WEF.

According to WEF, SMEs account for 95 percent of all registered businesses and contribute about 50 percent to the total GDP of sub-Saharan countries.

Lack of infrastructure, is another challenge that isolates SMEs from markets, opportunities and access to capital.

“SMEs must get access to funding, markets, skills and resources if Africa is to achieve its desired socioeconomic expansion. They must leverage banking technology, digital skills, market insights and relationship ecosystems to enable them to overcome business hurdles,” says WEF.