En dansker, der huskes i Tanzanias landbobank

Kai Kristoffersen


Foto: CRDB Bank.
Forfatter billede

Fødselaren fik sin bankuddannelse i Hjørring Diskontobank og har i årenes løb haft ledende stillinger i danske pengeinstitutter, bl.a. som direktør i Sydbank, Sparekassen Sydjylland og Bikuben.

Siden 1992 har Kai Kristoffersen beskæftiget sig med internationale rådgivningsopgaver i den finansielle sektor og indenfor offentlige finanser.

Tanzania står centralt

Arbejdet har især omfattet projekter og rådgivning i Litauen og andre nye EU-lande samt – ikke mindst – konsulentopgaver for Danida.

Her står Tanzania centralt i hans virke. 

Han er fortsat tilknyttet som bestyrelsesmedlem (Board of Directors) i Landbobanken CRDB, der for nogle år siden blev reorganiseret med støtte fra Danida.

CRDB, der bygger på andelstanken, er i dag Tanzanias største bank og af stor betydning for landets økonomiske udvikling – ikke mindst ude i landdistrikterne, hvor de fleste tanzanianere bor.

Den mangeårige danske støtte til CRDB er stort set udfaset, men der har længe siddet en dansk bankmand som eneste udlænding blandt dens 10 direktører, nemlig siden 2004. Og det er dagens fødselar.

Se også

http://quotes.wsj.com/TZ/XDAR/CRDB/company-people

Da banken fik sit Tembocard

Også den danske bankmand, nu 71-årige fhv. underdirektør Hans Peter Ubbe, har været aktiv omkring banken i Tanzania, der generelt betegnes som et af de mest vellykkede og levedygtige bistandsprojekter fra dansk side i det store østafrikanske land.

Hans Peter Ubbe var bl.a. arkitekten bag dankortet, visa-dankortet, dokumentløs check-clearing m.v. Herefter fungerede han som konsulent for CRDB med organisatoriske aktiviteter primært på IT-området.

Senere kopierede han for banken nogle af de danske systemer dernede, f.eks. dankortet. I Tanzania kom kortet til at hedde Tembocard med en elefant på forsiden – mere på

http://crdbbank.com/?option=com_content&view=article&id=83&Itemid=105

Se også Danidas landepolitikpapir for Tanzania 2014-2018 på

http://tanzania.um.dk/en/~/media/Tanzania/Documents/Policies/Landepolitikpapir%20%20Dansk%20tekst%20endelig%20udgave%20april%202014.pdf

DOKUMENT

Danida skev i sit erhvervsstøtteprogram (2008-2013) om banken:

Exit Support for CRDB Bank Ltd

Danida and the CRDB Bank Ltd has for many years had a successful cooperation. The Danida Investment Fund (DIF) is a major shareholder in CRDB and Danida has provided support for management functions, and SME (små og mellemstore virksomheder) and microfinance. CRDB Bank is today one of the most important financial institutions in Tanzania. It has a healthy financial position and makes impressive profits.

In 2000, CRDB Bank started its microfinance activities, with the support of Danida. Initially, the microfinance activities were considered an experimental pilot initiative, but since then microfinance has become a core activity of the bank. By 30th June 2006, CRDB Bank had disbursed (udbetalt) microfinance loans worth TZS 104 billion (DKK 500 million).

Losses have been negligible, largely thanks to a very comprehensive, long-term and thorough approach that CRDB Bank has applied in developing the capacity of grassroots financial institutions, such as the Saving and Credit Cooperative Societies, and in supervising their performance.

This investment in capacity development and supervision involves considerable costs. The services provided by CRDB Bank may be considered as an investment in market development but also partly as a public developmental function. Indeed many of the grassroots financial institutions that the bank supports have no loans with the bank. It is partly for this reason that support for the bank‟s microfinance was continued.

However, since then the FSDT (Financial Sector Deepening Trust) has become fully operational, and recently FSDT and CRDB Bank have started discussions of substance about how FSDT may contribute to financing part of the capacity development costs involved in the bank‟s planned expansion of its microfinance operation. It is expected that these discussions will lead to a positive conclusion why there no longer will be any justification for providing direct Danida support to CRDB Bank‟s microfinance operation.

The governments of Tanzania and Denmark have agreed that DIF within the next years will sell its shares to institutional and private investors. In this transition it is important to maintain stability in the management team, and for this reason, Danida will provide continued financing of the Danida adviser position as Deputy Managing Director until the exit has been completed and the related organisational and managerial changes have been established.

It is expected that the Danida financed Deputy Managing Director will be required for three years. A budget frame of DKK 7 million has been allocated for this purpose including possible specific activities in relation to the gradual sale of the DIF shares as well as for financing the participation of the Danida-appointed member of the CRDB‟s Board.

Kilde: Ambassaden i Dar es Salaam