BANK OF TANZANIA NOTICE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC

This is to inform the general public that Bank of Tanzania has issued a banking license to a new Microfinance Company named VisionFund Tanzania M.F.C Limited. The license allows the company to carry out banking business as a Microfinance company operating in Tanzania. The company's head office is located at Blue Plaza Building, India Street, Arusha.

Bank of Tanzania

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BANK OF TANZANIA NOTICE TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC

This is to inform the general public that the Bank of Tanzania has issued a financial leasing license to a company named Alios Finance (Tanzania) Limited. The license allows the company to carry out finance leasing business as a financial leasing company operating in Tanzania. The company's head office is located at Amani Place Building, Ohio Street, Dar es Salaam.

Bank of Tanzania

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CALL FOR TENDER: CONSULTANCY SERVICES FOR DRAFTING SIMPLIFIED FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS FOR MICRO ENTITIES IN TANZANIA

PRIVATE SECTOR COMPETITIVE PROJECT (PSCP) – ACCESS TO FINANCE COMPONENT 

CREDIT NO.5326 - TA 

EXPRESSION OF INTEREST 

CONSULTANCY SERVICES FOR DRAFTING SIMPLIFIED FINANCIAL REPORTING STANDARDS FOR MICRO ENTITIES IN TANZANIA

1. This request for expression of interest follows the General Procurement Notice for 

this project that appeared online in Development Business (UNDB) issue number 

10944 of July 3rd, 2013. 

2. The Government of United Republic of Tanzania has received a credit from 

International Development Association (IDA) towards the cost of the Private 

Sector Competitive Project (PSCP), and intends to apply part of the proceeds of 

this credit to payment under the contract for consulting services for Drafting 

Simplified Financial Reporting Standards for Micro Entities in Tanzania. 

3. The objectives for this study is to assist National Board of Accountants and 

Auditors (NBAA) with developing and drafting simplified financial reporting 

standards and guidelines for Micro entities in Tanzania. The simplified financial 

reporting requirements should be consistent with the standards/guidelines issued 

by International Accounting Standards Board. It will be a third tier of the 

accounting standards applicable in Tanzania after the full IFRSs and IFRSs for 

SMEs.

4. The Bank of Tanzania (Client) as an implementing entity of PSCP – Access to 

Finance Component now invites eligible consultants to indicate their interest in 

providing the services. Interested consultants must provide information indicating that they are qualified to perform the services. Such information may include 

brochures, description of similar assignments, experience in similar conditions and 

availability of appropriate skills among proposed staff. Consultants may 

associate to enhance their qualifications. 

5. A short list of consulting firms will be prepared on the basis of Expressions of 

Interest submitted to Bank of Tanzania in writing. The selection method will be in 

accordance with procedures set out by the World Bank Guidelines; Selection 

and Employment of Consultants by World Bank Borrowers, January 2011. 

6. Interested consultants may obtain further information at the address given below 

between 0830 hours and 1630 hours, Monday – Friday inclusive, exclusive of 

public holidays, before the deadline for the submission of Expression of Interest. 

7. Expressions of Interest in writing, with corporate capability statement should be 

sent to:- 

Postal: Secretary 

BOT Tender Board 

Bank of Tanzania, 

P.O. Box 2939, 

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. 

Physical: 2nd Floor, South Tower, 

2 Mirambo Street, 

11884 Dar es Salaam. 

E-mail: PMU@bot.go.tz 

Telephone No.: +255 22 2235194/5 

Fax No.: +255 22 2234053 

8. Deadline for submission of Expression of Interest is on Friday, 11th 

July, 2014 at 11.00 hours local time. 

Governor, 

Bank of Tanzania, 

11884 Dar es Salaam, 

Tanzania. 

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RISING FOOD AND ENERGY PRICES PUSHES TANZANIA'S INFLATION RATE HIGHER TO 6.5%

Rising food and energy prices pushed Tanzania's year-on-year inflation rate higher to 6.5 percent in May from 6.3 percent the previous month.

According Ephraim Kwesigabo, Director at state-run National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), the food and non-alcoholic beverages inflation rate increased to 8.5 percent in May from 7.8 percent recorded in the previous month, the statistics office said.

"The rise of the annual inflation rate in May was caused by higher price increases in food and non-food items such as fuel. There have been higher increases in the prices of a number of non-food commodity items such as charcoal and cooking gas in the year to May," he said.

The NBS said that month on month inflation tumbled to -0.4 percent from 0.7 percent in April.

"The fact that the monthly inflation rate declined in May compared to April could be an indication that the inflation rate could decline in the coming months," said Kwesigabo.

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M-PAWA ATTRACTS 250,000 USERS

Just three weeks since the M-Pawa service was launched in Dar es Salaam, Over 250,000 Tanzanians have been attracted to use the platform, a brainchild of Vodacom’s M-Pesa and Commercial Bank of Africa.

According to a statement by Vodacom, some 50,000 customers are making a total of Tshs 1.2 billion savings via the platform.

“This is a very encouraging trend which we believe will go from strength to strength,” Vodacom Tanzania Managing Director Rene Meza said in the statement.

He said the service had enabled some people, who previously were excluded from the banking services to save their money.

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UCHUMI SUPERMARKETS SET TO CROSS-LIST ON DSE

The Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange is poised to welcome a new entrant with the impending cross-listing of Kenya’s Uchumi Supermarkets, the largest retailer chain in the East African Community region.

The retailer outlet has applied to the stock exchange regulator, the Capital Markets and Securities Authority (CMSA) to cross-list at the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange.

The CMSA Public Relations Manager, Mr Charles Shirima told the Business Standard that the retailer was until Friday still sorting out some cross-listing requirements.

He however would not go into details about the requirements. The DSE Chief Executive Officer, Mr Moremi Marwa said they were looking forward to welcome the new entrant at the bourse as its admission would boost market activities at the bourse.

He said the cross-listing of Uchumi Supermarkets would move market capitalisation at the bourse a notch higher and provide an opportunity for Tanzanians to invest in one of the largest retail outlet in the region.

“We are very enthusiastic of this development which is also in line with our objective to integrate our markets’ regulations and infrastructure in the East African region that will also enable investors in the region to invest in our markets in a way that is efficient and effective,” he told the Business Standard.

Uchumi Supermarkets Chief Executive Officer, Mr Jonathan Ciano, said they had applied to cross-list at the DSE to make the outlet have a regional look and increase the number of its shareholders in the region.

“We applied for the approval barely two weeks ago with the aim to expand and increase the shareholders’ base across the East African Community countries.

We want to market Uchumi more as an East African company rather than a Kenyan firm, to expand and increase our footprint in different markets outside Kenya,” Chief Executive Officer, Jonathan Ciano said.

The retailer is already cross-listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE), where it has subsidiaries, and on the Rwanda bourse. Uchumi already has three outlets in Tanzania and is weighing options to open more outlets by next year. “We will be expanding in the region given the conducive business environment in the regional markets.

We are planning to issue new shares in a rights issue to finance our expansion plans,” said Mr Ciano. Uchumi Supermarkets last year became the third company to cross-list its shares on Kigali bourse after Nation Media Group (NMG) and KCB Group.

NMG, KCB Group, East African Breweries (EABL), Kenya Airways and Jubilee Holdings which are primarily listed on the NSE are also cross-listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange and the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange.

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PATERNITY LEAVE: MEN VALUE IT, BUT ARE CONFLICTED

Most professional men place an incredible value on paternity leave, according to two new studies. But why are some men so reluctant to take it ?

Most dads think a man should get respect for taking a few days off after his child is born. Many also think the operative phrase there is "a few days," a new TODAY survey shows.

Researchers say Americans' conflicted views over paternity leave are a potent symbol of how tough it is to figure out what it means to be a good man, and a good dad, these days. That became evident two months ago, when New York Mets' player Daniel Murphy sparked a national debate by taking a few days of paternity leave.

"The definition of what is a real man is really very much still in flux," said Brad Harrington, executive director of the Boston College Center for Work & Family.

Harrington's new research, also released Monday, finds that most professional men place an incredible value on paternity leave. Nearly all-99 percent of the approximately 1,000 well-educated, white-collar dads the center studied-said companies should offer paid paternity leave.

Also, 60 percent of the dads, who all had at least one child under age 18, said paternity leave is a very or extremely important consideration when evaluating a new employer.

And yet, the Boston College study also showed that many of these professional men are wary of giving up their breadwinning duties to be home with their partner and child. About half said they would require to be paid in full to take their paternity leave.

Harrington said that shows that many families simply can't afford to have both mom and dad take time off to be parents without bringing in a paycheck. He noted that the United States is an outlier among both developed and developing countries in not offering paid maternity leave for new moms.

Read More More dads stay at home, not necessarily by choice

It's also further proof that dads are caught between their aspirations to share child care duties and their responsibility to provide financially.

"I think we're in a state of transition," he said. "We're clearly moving toward a much more engaged father-much more hands-on, much more likely to aspire to a shared caregiving ... but we aren't there yet," he said.

'I needed to be there for my family'

Lance Stewart, 37, is all too familiar with the conflicting duties of being a dad, husband and breadwinner.

A few years ago, his family was pushed to the brink of financial ruin when he was forced to quit his job after his wife suffered such severe postpartum depression that she had to be hospitalized.

"I just left the job that I loved because I needed to be there for my family," he said.

Stewart, had taken 10 days of vacation from his job in the IT industry following the birth of his second child. His wife, Jamie, needed gallbladder surgery directly after the birth, and complications left her with a difficult recovery.

Meanwhile, Stewart had to return to work because he didn't have any more paid leave, and his job required him to travel for up to six days at a time.

One day, Jamie said she called Lance at work.

"I said, 'You have to come home. You have to take me to the hospital," she said. "I was extremely suicidal at the time. I was really scared."

It took about a year for Jamie to get healthy again, and Lance said he wasn't able to keep his job and attend to the needs of his family. He took a job that paid less and didn't require any travel, but his hours were soon cut to almost nothing. The family ended up selling their possessions to stay afloat.

Read More Work-life balance is stressing us out-at home

Lance recently returned to the company he left when his wife got sick, and he is once again traveling up to six days a week. Jamie, 32, is doing well and is a stay-at-home mom to the couple's three children in League City, Texas.

Lance doesn't blame his employer for not having been able to give him more paid paternity leave during the family's dark period, because he said the small company just didn't have the resources to do so.

But, he said, if he had been able to take a longer paid paternity leave, it might have helped prevent the cascade of problems.

"That would have made the world of difference. I wouldn't have to have left the secure, stable job that was taking care of us," Lance said. "I could have taken care of my family and have the security of knowing that I had a job to come back to."

Stewart's case is extreme, but experts say that most dads don't have the luxury of taking very much time off after the birth of a child, and many appear conflicted about what the right balance is.

The TODAY survey, which included about 900 dads with kids under age 18, found that 70 percent of dads thought men should be respected for taking a paternity leave, but 37 percent of the same dads surveyed also said a man should be respected for going right back to work.

Read More Stay-at-home dads struggle to shake Mr. Mom image

The survey also found that 68 percent of dads who took paternity leave took two weeks or less, and most dads surveyed thought that amount of time was appropriate.

Harrington noted that most dads don't likely have much of a choice - very few dads have paid paternity leave.

"The idea that we're one major health issue from potentially ruining a family's situation is very real," Harrington said.

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