Tanzania’s CRDB Bank has secured a US$300mn loan facility following “record” investor demand, as the lender looks to expand its activities across trade corridors in East and Central Africa.
The funding round attracted around US$744mn in total commitments, which was almost five times its initial US$150mn launch target, CRDB said.
This resulted in the “largest refinancing” of the syndicated term loan facility since its 2022 launch, the lender added.
A total of 34 financial institutions from Africa, Europe and the Gulf region took part in the facility, up from 30 last year. The year before, the pool contained 17 lenders.
In 2025, the facility received US$567mn in commitments from a range of international lenders.
This year’s facility also included a new three-year tranche alongside the existing one- and two-year tenors, which the bank said extended its maturity profile and diversified its funding base.
“The longer-dated tranche was particularly attractive to development finance institutions wanting to support sustainable long-term growth across the region,” CRDB said.
Intesa Sanpaolo and Investec acted as co-ordinators and bookrunners on the transaction, and have partnered with CRDB on its syndicated financing programme for the last five years.
Abdulmajid Nsekela, group CEO of CRDB, said the transaction reinforced the lender’s “standing in international funding markets and provides additional flexibility to support our clients and the economies in which we operate”.
“We are grateful to Investec, Intesa Sanpaolo and our lending partners for their continued confidence and support as we expand our regional footprint and deepen our contribution to economic development across East and Central Africa,” he said.
The facility will also be used to support CRDB’s corporate funding requirements, liquidity management and ongoing expansion of its lending activities across Tanzania.
Leanne Large, head of Investec distribution and loan syndication, said: “Investor participation has strengthened consistently since the inaugural transaction.
“We have seen ticket sizes increase, long-standing lenders seeking larger allocations and growing appetite for longer tenors.”
CRDB was established in 1996 and is Tanzania’s largest commercial bank. It has expanded into Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and recently opened an office in Dubai.
