DAR ES SALAAM: THE Deputy Minister in the President’s Office, Planning and Investment, Dr Pius Chaya, has directed Victory Financial Services Limited to expand its investment services across the country, including opening offices in every region and district, to widen access to investment opportunities.

Dr Chaya issued the directive earlier on Monday in Dar es Salaam during the launch of Victory Financial Services Limited’s two collective investment schemes, Ushindi Fund and Thamani Fund noting that the move should be accompanied by aggressive financial literacy campaigns, particularly targeting youth, domestic investors, Saccos, entrepreneurial groups and retirees, to enable more Tanzanians to participate in the capital market.

According to the deputy minister, broader participation in investment was essential to building a strong and inclusive economy.

“Prepare a strategy to expand your services by opening offices in every region and district. Start with Singida because, in my region, many people do not even know Victory Financial Services Limited,” Dr Chaya said, urging the company to ensure investment opportunities reach communities beyond major cities.

Emphasizing on his point, the deputy minister further directed the company’s board to establish partnerships with the President’s Office–Youth Development and the Tanzania Investment and Special Economic Zones Authority (TISEZA) to reach youth in universities and those who have completed studies but remain outside formal employment.

Elaborating, he said that such initiatives would help youth shift from relying solely on employment opportunities to becoming investors and entrepreneurs, noting that the schemes offered opportunities to start investing with amounts as low as 10,000/-.

He further urged Victory to regularly conduct research on the capital needs of domestic investors, particularly young people, to enable the company to develop investment products that respond to actual market needs.

“Without research, it is difficult to know the diversity of what people need and the products they require. Research will help you identify who to reach and which products they need,” he said.

Dr Chaya also called on Victory to channel more of the funds mobilised through its schemes into productive sectors, including agriculture, mining, manufacturing, livestock and fisheries, saying productive investment was key to creating jobs, generating tax revenue and accelerating economic growth.

‘The government is very determined to create a conducive environment for private-sector growth as part of efforts to ensure the sector contributes more than 70 per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), in line with the Tanzania Development Vision 2050,” he noted.

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Moreover, Dr Chaya said the government has introduced several measures to support investment, including allocating five per cent of revenues to improve the investment environment, providing a one-year tax holiday for qualifying new businesses and preparing a new strategy to improve the business and investment climate.

“We are now working on a Private Sector Development Act and a new investment policy aimed at removing barriers facing investors and strengthening the private sector’s contribution to the economy,” he said.

The Deputy Minister congratulated Victory Financial Services Limited on attaining 10 years of operations, but cautioned that its success should not be measured only by the amount of money mobilised, but also by the number of new investors brought into the market, jobs created and quality of services provided.

Meanwhile, the Capital Markets and Securities Authority (CMSA) said the launch of Ushindi Fund and Thamani Fund increased the number of collective investment schemes in Tanzania to 32, giving citizens a wider range of investment opportunities. CMSA representative Alfred Mkombo said the two funds had received approval after Victory Financial Services Limited met legal and regulatory requirements.

Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) Chief Executive Officer Peter Nalitolela said the two funds were important in deepening the capital market by expanding investment products and helping channel citizens’ savings into productive investments, urging investors to understand the objectives, risks, costs and time horizon of any product before investing.