Azania Bank and the State Mining Corporation (STAMICO) have signed a collaborative agreement to provide loans to small-scale miners. The two organizations will work together to provide artisanal and small-scale miners with access to financing options and credit facilities offered by Azania Bank. The agreement was signed in Dar es Salaam, witnessed by Minerals Minister Dr. Dotto Biteko, at the opening of a two-day meeting for artisanal and small-scale miners of industrial minerals and owners of mineral-product industries.
According to information released, the partnership will also involve joint awareness-raising and capacity-building activities in the mining and mineral processing subsector. The two institutions will also exchange knowledge and information on mining, mineral processing, and project financing matters. They will develop standard guidelines, benchmarks, or standard operating procedures to guide Azania Bank in assessing loan applications from licensed small-scale miners.
STAMICO will provide technical consulting services to Azania Bank on the mineral potential and technical aspects of the artisanal and small-scale mining projects before the lender grants credit facilities. The partnership aims to support artisanal and small-scale miners to carry out independent geoscientific studies of their mineral assets to be used as collateral when applying for credit facilities and Azania Bank will also conduct pilot financing studies on selected small-scale miners' projects.