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NAIROBI, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- The African Development Bank (AfDB) on Wednesday signed a 120-million-U.S.-dollar credit with Tanzania's CRDB Bank to support infrastructure and small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) development in East Africa.
AfDB's Director General of Eastern Africa Regional Development and Business Delivery Office, Gabriel Negatu, said the credit, which was inked in Kenya's capital Nairobi, will spur regional trade and promote regional integration through expanding capacity of Tanzania's port and airport, which will also stimulate tourism in the region.
"The SME sector is also key to create more jobs and this project will support a wide range of SMEs across agriculture, construction, manufacturing, education and services in order to promote inclusive growth in the country," Negatu told reporters in Nairobi.
He said poor infrastructure had been a major constraint for the region's growth, noting that Tanzania plays a key role in regional trade in terms of providing exporting routes for several land-locked countries.
"This calls for faster development of its ports and airport to make East Africa more competitive in doing business," Negatu said.
The CRDB Bank is Tanzania's largest commercial bank with footprint in Burundi. It supports various sectors including power, manufacturing, agriculture and SMEs.
In 2008, the AfDB provided a risk-sharing facility to the CRDB Bank, aimed at promoting SMEs in the agriculture sector. Since then, the CRDB Bank has expanded its SME loan portfolio. Enditem
