Josephine Christopher is a senior business journalist for The Citizen and Mwananchi newspapers
Mwananchi Communications Limitted
Dar es Salaam. A Tanzanian executive has been appointed Group Chief Executive Officer of a pan-African equipment finance company EFAfrica Group Ltd, which operates in Tanzania, Kenya, Zambia and Mauritius.
Mr Nicomed Bohay, who has nearly three decades of experience in banking, agricultural finance and enterprise development, will oversee the group's operations as it seeks to expand access to equipment financing for farmers, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and other businesses across Africa.
His appointment follows his tenure as Managing Director of Equity for Tanzania Limited (EFTA) since 2021. Mr Bohay said his appointment reflected the collective work of the team and the wider objective of using equipment finance to support economic activity.
“Equipment finance has never been about machines alone. It is about empowering farmers to increase productivity, helping businesses grow, creating jobs and improving livelihoods,” he was quoted in a statement shared to the paper.
Before joining EFTA, Mr Bohay served as Managing Director of PASS Trust Tanzania, where he worked on financing programmes for agribusinesses and supported the establishment of the Agribusiness Innovation Centre.
Earlier, he headed CRDB Bank's Agribusiness Department, where he was involved in financing agricultural value chains and expanding access to capital for farmers and agribusinesses.
EFTA's expansion under Mr Bohay was accompanied by what the company said was strong portfolio quality.
Its published financial results for June 2026 put the non-performing loan ratio at 1 per cent, indicating relatively low levels of distressed lending as the business expanded.
During his tenure, EFTA also introduced a poultry leasing programme targeting women and young people. The programme provides day-old chicks, feed and other essential production inputs through a leasing model, reducing the upfront capital required to start poultry businesses.
Another milestone was EFTA's corporate bond, which was listed on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE).
The bond raised more than Sh33 billion, more than twice the initial target, providing additional capital for financing productive assets in agriculture, transport and industry.
Mr Bohay said the new group-level role would focus on widening access to equipment financing across the company's existing markets while developing new products for sectors that remain underserved by conventional long-term financing.
“Our responsibility is to ensure that access to productive equipment is no longer the barrier to growth. We want EFAfrica to become the partner that enables businesses across Africa to invest, expand and compete,” he said.
