‘Micro-credit driving economic growth’

Grant Kurland (pictured), who is in charge of the group’s platforms in Africa and South America, noted that besides boosting the credit recipients’ economic wellbeing, the loans serve as a big catalyst in fostering financial inclusion in the society.

Kurland was speaking in a keynote address to the customers, shareholders and employees of Bayport Financial Services Tanzania during the climax of the firm’s 10th anniversary celebrations in Dar es Salaam last week.

“Our financial inclusion vision has now extended to 10 additional countries that include Zambia, Uganda, Ghana, Tanzania, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique, Colombia and Mexico in which we have over 520,000 Bayport customers”, Kurland noted.

He explained that the company had disbursed loans worth over 50m/- over the past decade. The financial institution was incorporated in Tanzania in 2006.

The CEO noted that the group’s financial muscle had been given impetus by a shot in the arm by major funders such as AB Kinnevik, a Swedish investment firm that had injected over US$40 million-and the micro-credit company’s issuance of its maiden bond in the international debt capital markets that had raised US$100 million.

According to him, “the group raised another US$100 million to fund new and existing growth opportunities”. Bayport Tanzania is one of the large taxpayers in the country. In 2015, it remitted over 7bn/- to the taxman.