The International Trade Centre through its MARKUP II Program, recently organised an Access to Finance BootCamp for AgriSMEs and financial institutions offering agrifinance products.
This two-day event, held at Crowne Plaza® Hotels & Resorts Dar es Salaam from 10th – 11th followed by another from 13th to 14th February at Morena Hotel in Dodoma, aimed to help SMEs understand lending models, criteria, and processes required to access financing.
It also provided an opportunity for financial institutions (FIs) to hold one-on-one consultations with SMEs, enhancing their understanding of the actual financing needs of these businesses, as part of the Know Your Customer (KYC) process. Our experts Mr. Joseph Migunda who serves as a National Consultant for the MARKUP II Program in Tanzania accompanied by CPA Gloria Kalyoto facilitated these sessions.
Participants in this event were founders and top managers involving in making key business decisions. Some participants acknowledged the difference in terms of content and context of the discussions stating that the bootcamp stuck to a theme of access to finance and that all deliberations were geared towards that. “Through this training we have been enlightened on how to develop budgets and business plans as part of the key requirements of the financiers. We now recognise what bankers look for in their books for us to be able to access financing more easily” stated one of the participants, Mr. Daniel Mwita, CFO of Mambo Coffee Company Limited.
The ITC’s Access to Finance intervention aims to ensure that agriSMEs receive the necessary technical assistance from qualified Business Development Service Providers (BDSP) to access various working capital and investment financing opportunities. This includes helping SMEs clearly understand their actual financing needs, providing technical support on documentation, facilitating linkages with potential financiers, and conducting post-financing follow-ups. This bootcamp is one in a series of similar events held in other countries to ensure that more agriSMEs have access to affordable financing for their short- and long-term investments.