The Minister of Agriculture, Hon. Hussein Bashe (MP), has said that the Tanzania Cooperative Bank will be a bank that will be guided by commercial principles to bring productivity and development to cooperative members and the nation as a whole.

Minister Bashe said this while opening the first General Meeting of the Cooperative Bank (CBT) on October 17, 2024 in Dodoma, where he urged the Bank's managers and executives to ensure that the Bank operates efficiently, which will enable the Bank to grow and enter the Stock Exchange to increase growth and profits through Cooperatives.

Minister Bashe has called on Cooperative Societies, Agricultural Institutions and Stakeholders to do business with the Bank to increase the profits and income of the Cooperatives, adding that the Government will continue to provide cooperation to the Bank to enable it to grow and serve farmers and various other stakeholders.

In addition, the Minister thanked the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Hon. Samia Suluhu Hassan, for supporting the Cooperatives and contributing 5 billion shillings to the Bank's capital, bringing it to 52 billion shillings.

The Chairman of the Cooperative Development Commission, Abdulmajid Nsekela, said that cooperatives are a tool that can be used to reach many citizens, even in rural areas. Thus, the Bank is going to increase the speed of delivering financial services through loans and other banking services.

He added that the Commission supports the concept of running banks commercially and digitally by managing Cooperative Societies using digital systems that keep pace with the pace of technological change.

The meeting was attended by various leaders including the Registrar and Chief Executive of the Commission Dr. Benson Ndiege, Chairmen and Executives of Cooperative Societies, Government Leaders and Development Stakeholders.