The government of Tanzania on Sunday urged banks and other financial institutions in the east African nation to issue loans to artisanal miners to help them improve productivity.
Stanslaus Nyongo, the Deputy Minister for Minerals, made the appeal to the banks when he opened a meeting between the Tanzania Mining Commission and the CRDB Bank in the capital Dodoma. “Local artisanal miners have been repeatedly complaining over limited access to capital from local banks and other financial institutions,” Nyongo told the meeting.
The official said the mining sector has been growing steadily and that appropriate support to local artisanal miners by local banks will help realize the government’s effort to increase the contribution of the mining sector into the economy.