Co-operative Bank of Tanzania, which launched last April, has marked its first year of operations by reporting sharp growth in customer numbers.
In its report, it says it has onboarded over 150,000 individual customers and 450 savings and credit co-ops (saccos), and disbursed over TSh120bn (US$46m, £34m) in loans, primarily to the SME and agricultural sectors.
Total assets have grown by 40% since the initial capitalisation in Q2 2025.
In terms of digital adoption, 70% of all transactions are now conducted through the bank’s mobile platform, M-Coop Cash Tanzania.
The bank – a subsidiary of the Co-operative Bank of Kenya – says this will deepen financial inclusion across the country.
Since its launch in April 2025, the bank says it has positioned itself as a key player in Tanzania’s financial sector, with a focus on empowering the national co-operative movement, which comprises thousands of saccos. By providing customized credit facilities and digital banking solutions to these grassroots organisations, the bank says it has reached underbanked populations in urban and rural settings.
It added that it has outperformed growth projections by leveraging its co-op values of communal ownership and profit-sharing principles.
The bank has established a network of branches in major economic hubs, including Dar es Salaam, Arusha, and Mwanza, and is using agent banking to serve the country’s interior regions.
Specialised products have been introduced for women-led enterprises and youth startups, sectors that have traditionally faced high barriers to entry in the formal banking system.
Work is also being done to support cross-border transactions for Kenyan and Tanzanian traders, as part of the bank’s broader strategy of becoming a Pan-African financial institution, with the next phase of growth involving expansion into the Zanzibar archipelago and strengthening ties with Tanzanian agricultural unions.
