African economies need to address gaps in access to finance for small businesses and ensure more tourism revenues remain within the continent, African Group, World Bank Director-General Dr Zarau Kibwe has said.
Dr Kibwe said some financial products were structured around investors and companies seeking large amounts of capital, potentially leaving micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) outside the formal financing market.
He made the remarks on September 17, 2026, during the National Planners’ Conference 2026 in ArusHe said one challenge facing institutions supporting MSMEs was the cost of transactions, while some financing systems set minimum thresholds that may not correspond with the needs of smaller businesses.
‘Some financial systems have also been built more for investors or companies that require large amounts of money,’ he said.
Dr Kibwe cited financing of about US$5 million, questioning whether a company requiring such an amount should automatically be considered a small, medium-sized or large enterprise.
‘These criteria can leave some of our MSMEs outside the financial market. This means our MSMEs are left out,’ he said.
He said addressing such gaps was important if African countries were to expand opportunities for smaller businesses and strengthen their contribution to economic growth.
Dr Kibwe also highlighted challenges facing the continent’s tourism sector, saying much of the money spent by visitors does not remain within African economies.
He said only about six per cent of every dollar spent by a tourist remained in Africa, underscoring the need for countries to increase the value of goods and services offered to visitors.
‘Of every one dollar that a tourist spends, only six percent of the money remains in Africa,’ Dr Kibwe said.
He said the situation showed that Africa still had significant room to strengthen links between tourism and other sectors of the economy so visitor spending generated greater benefits for local businesses and producers.
For Tanzania, Dr Kibwe said the focus should be on increasing value addition within tourism and strengthening its links with domestic production.
‘Tanzania needs to increase value in the sector and link tourism with other sectors of the economy, including domestic production, to increase the benefits of tourism to the economy and employment,’ he said.
He said stronger domestic linkages could help retain more tourism income within the country by encouraging hotels, tour operators and other businesses to source goods and services locally.
Dr Kibwe said this would require greater attention to local production, quality and capacity so businesses could meet demand created by the tourism sector.
The remarks were made as planners and other stakeholders gathered to discuss approaches to strengthening implementation and results under Tanzania’s Development Vision 2050.
The conference, held in Arusha under the theme ‘Delivering Vision 2050: Strengthening Integrated Planning, Execution and Results’, is bringing together planners and other stakeholders to examine how development priorities can be translated into measurable outcomes.
Dr Kibwe’s comments placed access to finance and retention of tourism revenues among issues African countries need to consider when seeking broader and more sustainable economic gains.