Unlocking Finance for Tanzania’s Fisheries Value Chain
By Safarani Seushi, Inclusive MSME Finance Manager – FSDT, in collaboration with Elizabeth Gathu, Manager, Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance – MSC, and Ramadhani Katunda, Manager, Inclusive Financial Ecosystem – MSC
Across Tanzania’s coastline and lakeshores, millions of livelihoods depend on near-shore fisheries and aquaculture. Most participants in the sector are Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), spanning fishers and boat owners, fish traders and processors, pond and cage farmers, seaweed farmers, hatcheries, and fish feed producers and distributors (URT, Fisheries Sector Masterplan 21/22-36/37). Though highly informal, they operate businesses backed by tangible productive assets, from boats, cages, and nets to cold-storage facilities, and serve established markets and buyers. Yet, despite ownership of these assets and the 2.2% contribution of the fisheries value chain to the national GDP, finance rarely reaches this sector.
The state of Tanzania’s fisheries sector
Tanzania’s fisheries sector grew from 1.4% in 2024 to 6.3% in 2025, with fish production from natural water bodies reaching 519,454 tonnes, compared with 522,788 tonnes in 2024. Despite the slight decline in production volumes, the value of fish products produced increased by 4.6%, from TZS 4.36 trillion in 2024 to TZS 4.56 trillion in 2025. Under the Fisheries Sector Master Plan for 21/22–36/37, the government aims to increase the sector’s contribution to the GDP to 10% by 2037. Achieving this will require increased production, processing, exports, and investment across the fisheries value chain.
Several programmes are already underway to help advance this agenda. Among them is the Women and Youth Economic Empowerment in Fisheries through Inclusive Market Access Programme implemented by TradeMark Africa and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation. Within this partnership, MicroSave Consulting (MSC) is implementing the access to finance component. Overall, the programme is supporting 5,224 fisheries actors to become financing ready. Of these, 52% are women-led and 48% are men-led, while 55% are youth-led and 51% are female youth-led.
During the implementation of the programme, MSC conducted a behavioral study to better understand the roles that women and young people play across the fisheries value chain. This study highlighted the following:
A significant financing opportunity
The foundations for financial inclusion are already in place. Findings from the behavioural study showed that: 91% of respondents save, 82% keep financial records, and 97% have access to mobile phones. Yet 47% have never borrowed due to low borrower readiness, financial product mismatch, and risk perception; pointing to a sizeable, untapped customer base for financial institutions and investors.
Digital access provides an affordable pathway to reach these enterprises, build transaction histories, assess customers, and deliver tailored financial products. The opportunity extends beyond lending to include working capital, asset finance, leasing, savings, payments, insurance, and other fisheries-specific financial solutions.
This gap is what the Knowledge Dissemination and Financial Partnership Workshop on Supporting the Fisheries Value Chain in Tanzania, hosted by MSC on the 16th of September 2026, under the Women and Youth Economic Empowerment in Fisheries through Inclusive Market Access Programme, sought to address. At this workshop, FSDT joined financial service providers, including CRDB Bank, FINCA Microfinance, the Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB), alongside Nyanza Cooperative Union, in a panel discussion exploring what it will take for the financial sector to extend financing and insurance further across the fisheries value chain.
What will it take to expand finance?
The panel discussion highlighted several areas that require greater attention if financial services are to better respond to the needs of fisheries businesses.
Better data and market intelligence are essential. A stronger understanding of the fisheries value chain can help financial service providers identify viable financing opportunities and develop products that respond to the realities of businesses operating across different stages of the chain.
Stronger partnerships and risk-sharing mechanisms are needed to encourage greater financing across the fisheries’ value chain. Credit guarantee schemes, blended finance, and other affordable risk-mitigation mechanisms could help address some of the risks associated with the sector and encourage financial service providers to expand their engagement.
Potential in alternative approaches to credit assessment. Many fisheries MSMEs face challenges related to thin files, meaning short or insufficient credit histories. Alternative data and credit-scoring models could provide financial service providers with additional information to assess the creditworthiness of businesses that may otherwise struggle to meet conventional lending requirements.
Financial literacy among MSMEs needs to be strengthened to support responsible borrowing, improve understanding of loan terms, and promote productive use of finance.
Digitization presents another important opportunity. Encouraging digital transactions across the fisheries value chain can reduce reliance on cash, strengthen financial records, generate useful business data, and enhance product traceability. Over time, this data could help MSMEs demonstrate their financial activity and improve their access to formal financial services.
Insurance products that are accessible, affordable, and relevant to fisheries businesses are needed. Embedding or bundling insurance with other financial products, such as loans, could help improve affordability and uptake while providing businesses with greater protection against risks.
A new opportunity through movable collateral
Further, limited collateral ownership poses a key challenge, the recently passed Secured Transactions (Movable Property) Act 2026 could create new opportunities for MSMEs in the fisheries value chain to access finance. The Act establishes a framework for using movable property as security for financing and provides for a Collateral Registry administered by the Bank of Tanzania. Eligible movable assets can include equipment, vehicles, inventory, receivables, and other forms of movable property. This could be relevant to MSMEs in the fisheries value chain, particularly women and youth-owned MSMEs, that have productive business assets but may not own land or other conventional forms of collateral. For example, businesses operating fish cages, boats, processing equipment, cold-storage facilities, vehicles, inventory, or other eligible movable assets could potentially use these assets to support applications for financing, subject to the requirements of financial service providers and the applicable legal framework.
By broadening the range of assets that can potentially be used as collateral, the new framework could help fisheries unlock finance for working capital, business expansion, equipment acquisition, and value addition. It could also provide lenders with greater certainty around the registration, priority, and enforcement of security interests, potentially supporting greater confidence in lending to MSMEs across the fisheries’ value chain.
FSDT views the passing of the Secured Transaction Act 2026 as a window of opportunity, for the underserved, but mainly women and youth who lack adequate collateral to access productive credit. Further, FSDT is pleased to have been part of the journey, having worked with the Ministry of Finance, providing valuable demand-side insights and technical support during the drafting of the Act. To ensure operationalization, FSDT is now working with the Bank of Tanzania to support the establishment of the Collateral Registry and development of the regulations.
Building on existing and upcoming FSDT initiatives
The Workshop on Supporting the Fisheries Value Chain in Tanzania discussions also highlighted opportunities to build on approaches that FSDT has been piloting and working on, which include:
FSDT’s Alternative Credit Scoring Initiative, currently being piloted in the Kilombero sugarcane value chain, demonstrates how alternative data can complement traditional credit assessment and help address some of the collateral and credit-history constraints faced by MSMEs. Lessons from this initiative could offer useful insights for developing similar approaches in other value chains, including fisheries.
To further support the financial sector to address other constraints faced by MSMEs, the FinScope MSME Tanzania 2026 Survey, projected to launch this financial year, will provide critical demand-side data on MSMEs in Tanzania, including those operating in the fisheries value chain. The findings are expected to help the financial sector understand the MSME sector, identify viable financing opportunities, and develop products that respond to the realities of businesses operating across different stages of the value chain.
Similarly, the recently launched EU-funded Impact Grant Fund (IGF) provides an opportunity to support innovative approaches that can help financial service providers expand financing to women- and youth-led MSMEs while addressing some of the risks associated with lending to underserved segments.
The IGF provides grants and business-growth support to MSMEs operating in climate-smart and inclusive growth sectors, including sustainable fisheries and aquaculture, protection of marine resources, and sustainable food cold chains. These areas have direct linkages to the fisheries value chain.
Beyond catalytic financing, the IGF uses an integrated model to reduce financing risks for youth- and women-owned MSMEs through partnerships with financial service providers, asset financiers, business development service providers, and enterprise support organizations.
Moving from opportunity to action
The Workshop on Supporting the Fisheries Value Chain in Tanzania reinforced the importance of partnerships, evidence, innovation, and appropriate financial solutions in unlocking the potential of Tanzania’s fisheries value chain.
Expanding access to finance will require collaboration across the financial sector, government, development partners, and the wider fisheries ecosystem. It will also require solutions that recognize the realities of fisheries businesses, including limited collateral and financial records, seasonal cash flows, and exposure to operational risks.
The opportunity is significant. Tanzania’s fisheries businesses are already generating economic value, employing thousands of people, and building productive enterprises across the country. The next step is to ensure that financial services can reach them with products and approaches that reflect how their businesses operate.
FSDT and MSC are ready to collaborate with stakeholders across the financial sector and fisheries ecosystem to advance practical solutions that expand access to finance, strengthen resilience, and support inclusive growth for women, youth, and MSMEs across Tanzania’s fisheries value chain.