Royal Tour is good for businesses says CRDB CEO

Dar es Salaam.  The Royal Tour, which President Samia Suluhu Hassan inaugurated on Monday, April 18th, offers a massive economic growth for Tanzania, the CRDB Bank Plc chief executive officer has stated, detailing how the lender would utilize its national and international network to rejuvenate Tanzanian businesses.

Mr. Abdulmajid Nsekela -- who is part of the business community that has travelled with President Hassan's on her trip to the United States -- said the Royal Tour would boost tourism arrivals and investments.

"We expect The Royal Tour will achieve its objectives of promoting Tanzania as a leading country in terms of tourist attractions globally and thus help attract tourists to Tanzania…It will also boost trade between Tanzania and other countries and attract investors to come and invest in the country," he said.

While on the Royal Tour, the CRDB delegation met with a senior executive from Citibank and Pegasus, where they discussed business issues that could benefit Tanzania and Tanzanians.

The CRDB Bank delegation also paid a courtesy call to Moody's and held a high-level discussion in line with market positioning, including capacity building, information access, and credit rating monitoring.

The meeting with Citibank's senior executives discussed key shared priorities to boost and support economic empowerment in Small and Medium Enterprises, focusing on women and youth, digitalization, and the Blue Economy agenda.

"Also discussed was technical assistance for CRDB Bank to strengthen the Bank's capacity to serve the segment and meet rapidly growing demand…Citibank being the CRDB Bank's main USD Correspondent Bank - the banks also discussed cross-border business support for its soon-to-be-launched Subsidiary in DRC," Mr. Nsekela said in a statement on Tuesday.

During the meeting with executives from Pegasus, an American company that invests in sustainable and health-related business solutions, the company expressed its willingness to enter the Tanzania market and looked specifically at how it can collaborate with CRDB Bank.

The Royal Tour documentary – which was shot and filmed in Tanzania - will be used to market the country's tourist attractions on a global scale, in the government's renewed effort to boost tourists after the global Covid-19 pandemic.

Following the initial launch in New York on April 18, the film will also be launched in Los Angeles on April 21, Dar es Salaam on April 28, and later in Zanzibar.

President Samia was involved in recording the documentary last year as she traveled to various tourist attraction sites with the American-based film crew.

Tanzania's tourism sector, which was adversely affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, has been in a recovery mode, with the Bank of Tanzania's figures showing that during the year ending February 2022, foreign exchange earnings from the sector rose to $1.457 billion from only $645.4 million during a similar period last year.

The rise was due to an 87.9 percent increase in tourist arrivals which reached 958,173 travelers during the year ending February 2022.

According to Mr. Nsekela, the idea behind The Royal Tour – which CBS News Travel Editor Peter Greenberg prepared – was to ensure that the world understands Tanzania's abundant natural resources, including its rich cultural and natural heritage sites.

"We have Tanzanite minerals found only in Tanzania in the whole world…We have huge natural gas reserves, coal, rivers, lakes, ocean, and game reserves. We have over 100 tribes that co-exist peacefully. We have a rich culture and tradition, natural food, and our history and clothes. These all form an economic opportunity to be utilized," he said.

He said CRDB decided to be part of The Royal Tour largely because the lender has a history of cooperating with the government to execute various development projects and support communities in their development endeavors.

Nsekela hinted that CRDB Bank is well prepared to ensure that participants in the anticipated stimulation of the economy – which The Royal Tour will fuel - can get all their financial needs from the leading Bank.

Some of CRDB Bank's services and products that would benefit all businesses include the use of PoS, E-commerce, Visa/MasterCard, UnionPay, and QR Code in making payments to individuals, companies, and government agencies. The Bank also avails Investment & Working Capital loans for existing businesses and those that The Royal Tour will inspire among the many.