Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Monday, September 19, 2022.
Why did it take Tanzania eighteen years to ratify OAU Convention on terrorism?
Home Affairs Minister Hamad Masauni said Monday that while it is true that Tanzania has not been affected by terrorism as hard as its neighbours in the region, the country is observing “signs” of the spread of violent extremism, making the ratification of the OAU Convention on the Prevention and Combating of Terrorism urgent.
On January 27, 2005, Tanzania became the signatory to the convention that seeks to strengthen cooperation among AU’s member states in the prevention and combating of terrorism but fell short of ratifying it, a decision that analysts associated with how the East African nation perceived threats of terrorism.
On Monday, however, the government submitted a motion to the national assembly, asking lawmakers to ratify the convention and make Tanzania the third country in East Africa to do so after Burundi and Rwanda.
“There are signs showing the spread of violent extremism in various parts of the country, leading people to join terrorist groups outside the country,” Mr Masauni told the parliament. “This puts our national security in danger. There are risks of terrorist activities to take place in Tanzania.”
Mr Masauni named five regions that the government considers to be the breeding ground for violent extremism indoctrination in Tanzania, informing lawmakers that authorities are at work in ensuring the networks are disrupted. The regions are Arusha, Geita, Mwanza, Pwani and Tanga.
Full story here.
Dar announces arresting over 135 Panya Road suspects
Dar es Salaam regional commissioner Amos Makalla said Monday that over 135 people suspected to belong to the criminal gang Panya Road have been arrested in the past four days.
Makalla was briefing journalists on the authorities’ measures to sweep Tanzanian’s commercial capital of the menace of the criminals who patrol the streets of Dar es Salaam, attacking people and robbing them of their properties.
At least one death has been reported in connection to the criminal’s activities in the city, with police announcing over the weekend that they killed six people suspected to be members of the group. Police cited resisting arrest as a reason for the killings.
“In these four days, we have been able to seize various stolen items including 23 televisions and 135 suspects have been taken into custody who are still under investigation,” Mr Makalla was quoted as saying.
“I announced on September 15 that we have deployed 300 more police officers, but these gangs did not listen and went to try and stage a robbery around Makongo and Ubungo,” he added.
Mr Makalla pointed out that He said that the regional defence and security committee has met and set a strategy and that from now on all police stations will work for 24 hours.
“Each ward will have a patrol vehicle, security will be strengthened and every district will have a meeting in the first week of the month to discuss the issue of security and protection,” he told reporters at his office in Dar es Salaam.
CRDB Tanzania secures a $130m loan from SA-based Investec Bank, Brazil’s Intesa Sanpaolo
In its fourth private placement funding round, CRDB Bank Group raised $130 million, bringing the total amount already raised from international investors in 2022 to over $280 million, reported Ecofin Agency on Monday.
CRDB Tanzania has again attracted the attention of foreign investors this year by raising $130 million in an international syndicated loan transaction arranged by Investec Bank, a South African investment bank, and Intesa Sanpaolo, a leading bank in Brazil.
Commenting on the transaction, CRDB Bank’s CEO Abdulmajid Nsekela said that he was “very excited” to have closed the agreement.
“The raised funds from the international market will improve the bank’s overall capitalization and support our lending portfolio to the corporate and SME sector in Tanzania and Burundi,” Mr Nsekela was quoted as saying. “I would like to thank Investec Bank and Intesa for their support.”
According to the private placement financing transaction log compiled by Ecofin Agency, this is the fourth financing the institution has received this year, bringing the total resources it has raised in debt and equity to $280 million.
After attracting investors such as Proparco, Norfund, the Danish Fund for Enterprise Development in Developing Countries, and the International Finance Corporation, Ecofin Agency reported that “CRDB Tanzania has the profile expected from African actors that issue international debt.”
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