The People's Bank of Zanzibar (PBZ) is a

commercial bank A commercial bank is a financial institution which accepts deposits from the public and gives loans for the purposes of consumption and investment to make profit. It can also refer to a bank, or a division of a large bank, which deals with cor ...

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

. It is licensed by the Bank of Tanzania, the

central bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central ba ...

and national banking regulator.

Overview

, PBZ was a medium-sized financial institution, with total assets of approximately TSh 321.35 billion. At that time, the bank's shareholders' equity was about TSh 29.6 billion. The bank employed 236 full-time staff as of 30 June 2014.

History

The bank was founded in 1966 by the

government of Zanzibar The Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous government within Tanzania for Zanzibar, which consists of the northern part of the Zanzibar Archipelago, mainly the islands of Unguja and Pemba. Structure The government is made up ...

. It functions as a

retail bank Retail banking, also known as consumer banking or personal banking, is the provision of services by a bank to the general public, rather than to companies, corporations or other banks, which are often described as wholesale banking. Banking servi ...

, serving individuals,

small and medium enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by international organizations such as the World Bank ...

(SMEs), and large corporate clients. Initially, its service area was limited to the islands of

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...

and Pemba. In April 2011, the bank opened a branch in

Dar es Salaam Dar es Salaam (; from ar, دَار السَّلَام, Dâr es-Selâm, lit=Abode of Peace) or commonly known as Dar, is the largest city and financial hub of Tanzania. It is also the capital of Dar es Salaam Region. With a population of over s ...

on the mainland. As of May 2012, it planned new branches in Mwanza, Arusha, Mtwara, and Mbeya. In December 2011, the bank launched an Islamic bank window, in addition to the conventional banking services that it offers.

Ownership

PBZ is wholly owned by the government of Zanzibar.

Branch network

As of November 2014, The Peoples Bank of Zanzibar Limited maintains 11 branches at the following locations: # Malindi Branch - Near Ministry of Agriculture,

Main Branch # Chake Chake Branch -

Chake-Chake Chake-Chake is a town located on the Tanzanian island of Pemba and capital of Chake Chake District. It is in the centre of a deep indentation in the west coast called Chake-Chake Bay. Chake-Chake is historically the capital of Pemba Island ...

, Pemba # Forodhani Branch - Forodhani Park,

# Mwanakwerekwe Branch - Mwanakwerekwe, Zanzibar # Mkoani Branch - Zanzibar Port Authority Building, Zanzibar # Wete Branch - Ground Floor, Zanzibar Electricity Corporation Building, Zanzibar # Mlandege Branch - Muzammil Building,

Mlandege Mlandege is an administrative ward in the Iringa Urban district of the Iringa Region of Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within th ...

# Kariakoo Branch - Opposite Kariakoo Main Market, Zanzibar # Dar es Salaam Branch I - Mbagala, Dar es Salaam # Tazara Branch - Dar es Salaam, Junction of TAZARA # Mtwara Branch - Mtwara

References

External links