BANK OF AFRICA – TANZANIA (BOA-TANZANIA) recorded a loss before tax of TZS 16 billion for the year ended December 31, 2019, compared to a loss of TZS 8.4 billion in 2018. This deterioration reflects a decrease in bank margin, due to lower returns on customer loans and advances.

The Bank’s strategy is to continue to focus on growing its retail business to take advantage of higher returns. This strategy is also a means of expanding the overall loan portfolio and thereby increasing bank margin.

Provisions for doubtful and disputed loans (CDL) in 2019 were TZS 14 billion, compared to TZS 15.5 billion in 2018, a decrease of 10%. This reflects an improvement in the quality of the loan portfolio, as evidenced by the decrease in the rate of bad and disputed loans, 9.2% at the end of 2019 compared to 16% at the end of 2018. This result is explained by the implementation of stricter credit application assessment procedures, and by the strengthening of the collection and risk prevention functions.