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Tanzania Financial Services for Underserved Settlements

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Joined July 2018

Facilitates access to domestic funding for slum upgrading projects through provisions of credit enhancement and credit guarantees to underserved communities

Presence in: Tanzania

Future plans
TAFSUS is planning to enhance its workforce and extend coverage beyond Dar es Salaam and increase the number of unplanned settlements accessing the Credit Enhancement support. TAFSUS will also be seeking to work in partnership with local and international partners sharing the same mission of upgrading settlements through community mobilization and credit enhancement.

So far, TAFSUS has received support from SUF program under UN-HABITAT in operationalizing the company and providing technical assistance in setting up the first loans.

Objectives of the company
• To bring together key players involved in cities and national level slum upgrading strategies to address the challenge of financing

• To catalyze the integration of commercial finance into slum upgrading

• To provide mechanisms to blend forms of funding to maximize affordability for the poor

• To provide a financial mechanism to support the implementation of city-based slum and settlement upgrading strategies

• To advocate for sound policies, enforcement of law, and proactive planning to prevent future growth/generation of slum areas.

Activities of the company
The company’s principal activity is provision of financial services that are designed to offer technical support for project development and credit enhancement, most commonly in the form of guarantees, to support housing and infrastructure improvement for the poor. TAFSUS seeks to finance projects with a combination of community savings, subsidy from government and local domestic commercial bank lending.

Background Information
Tanzania Financial Services for Underserved Settlements (TAFSUS) is a non-ban financial institution supported by UN-HABITAT and designed to make financial services accessible to residents in unplanned and underserved settlements.