Yahya Jumanne Kiyabo: Driving Tanzania’s Cooperative Banking transformation

TABORA: From a clerical accountant at the Association of Tanzania Tobacco Traders Limited (ATTT) in Tabora to a senior banking executive, Yahya Jumanne Kiyabo has built a career spanning more than 12 years across cooperative, retail and commercial banking.

Today, he serves as Head of Business & Co-operative Banking at Co-operative Bank Tanzania Plc, where he is responsible for expanding financial services to cooperatives, SACCOs, agricultural value chains, MSMEs and other member-owned enterprises.

His mandate combines commercial growth with financial inclusion, focusing on sustainable profitability while creating economic value for members, businesses and communities. His guiding philosophy is: “If it’s not about cooperatives, it’s not enough.”

Building a banking career

Born in Igunga, Tabora, Kiyabo studied in the region before joining the University of Dar es Salaam, where he earned a Bachelor of Commerce in Banking and Financial Services in 2012.

He later obtained a Master of Financial Management from Amity University, Uttar Pradesh, India, together with Certified Professional Banker and SpecialistBanker qualifications from the Tanzania Institute of Bankers (TIOB).

His additional professional development includes studies in Islamic Banking and Finance from AlHuda Centre of Islamic Banking & Economics (CIBE), Certified Proficiency in Insurance, and a Certified Director qualification from the Institute of Directors in Tanzania (IoDT).

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His banking career began at CRDB Bank, where he progressed from Bank Officer to Service Centre In-Charge and then Branch Manager at Njiro and Ngaramtoni branches in Arusha. These roles gave him experience in customer
acquisition, deposits, lending, profitability, compliance, operational controls and people management.

His professional identity, however, became increasingly linked to community and cooperative banking.

Transforming TACOBA

In November 2021, Kiyabo became General Manager of Tandahimba Community Bank Plc (TACOBA) in Mtwara Region, overseeing strategy, profitability, business development, operations, people and stakeholder
relations.

Between 2021 and 2024, he helped transform TACOBA from an ailing, loss- making institution into a profitable bank, supported by stronger governance, improved credit-risk management, business development and cost optimisation.

Between 2023 and May 2024, he played a central role in transforming

TACOBA from a community bank into a cooperative society, navigating regulatory, governance and operational requirements.

In May 2024, he was also involved in the amalgamation of TACOBA with Kilimanjaro Cooperative Bank (KCBL), culminating in the establishment of Co-operative Bank Tanzania Plc. His role covered stakeholder engagement,
regulatory approvals, operational integration and change management.

Leading cooperative banking

Since October 2024, Kiyabo has served as Head of Business & Co-operative Banking at Co-operative Bank Tanzania Plc.

His responsibilities include developing relationships with cooperative societies, SACCOs, unions and member-owned enterprises, while expanding solutions in savings, lending, trade finance, value-chain financing and transaction banking.

Agriculture, livestock and fisheries are central to the Bank’s value-chain financing approach, connecting producers, cooperatives, businesses and markets. Digital and agency banking are also important tools for reaching rural and underserved communities.

The objective is not simply to introduce banking products, but to develop solutions that reflect the financial realities of cooperative members and the enterprises they operate.

Strong growth in H1 2026

The Bank’s H1 2026 performance illustrates the scale of its transformation under Kiyabo’s Business and Cooperative Banking mandate. Customer deposits reached 156.48bn/- by June 2026, compared with 53.01bn/- in June 2025, representing a 195% increase.

The loan book increased from 27.8bn/- to 135.67bn/-, representing 388% growth. At the same time, asset quality improved. The Non-Performing Loan (NPL) ratio fell from 3.4% in June 2025 to 1.2% in June 2026, a 65% reduction.

The branch network expanded from four to seven branches, covering Dodoma, Moshi, Tabora, Tandahimba, Mtwara, Morocco, Dar es Salaam and Kagera, representing 75% growth.

Total assets grew by 161%, while both interest and non-interest income also recorded substantial increases.

These figures point to a rapidly expanding institution with greater balance-sheet strength, geographic reach and capacity to serve Tanzania’s cooperative economy. The challenge is to sustain this growth while maintaining asset
quality, governance and alignment with the Bank’s 2026–2030 strategy.

Technology and digital banking

Kiyabo has also demonstrated a strong technology and innovation focus. At TACOBA, he served as Project Manager and Lead of the ICT Technical Team for a core banking system upgrade aimed at improving stability, security, scalability and digital readiness.

He led the introduction of agency banking in partnership with CRDB Bank, bank cards for TACOBA customers and a bancassurance unit. Between 2024 and 2025, he also led the development and implementation of
Co-operative Bank Tanzania’s digital banking propositions, including Coopesa,CoopNet and Coop Wakala. His approach combines physical banking infrastructure with secure, convenient and accessible digital channels.

People-centred leadership

Kiyabo’s leadership responsibilities include coaching, mentoring and talent development, particularly in cooperative finance, agricultural finance, MSME banking and value-chain financing.

The bank’s workforce increased from 69 staff in June 2025 to 113 by June 2026, with the Business and Cooperative Banking Department having the majority of staff.

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His leadership experience extends beyond executive banking roles. From 2015 to 2020, he served as Chairman of the Tanzania Union of Industrial and Commercial Workers at CRDB Bank’s Waterfront Branch. At the University of
Dar es Salaam, he previously served as Minister of Finance and Investment at DARUSO and Assistant Treasurer of the Dar es Salaam University Students Association.

The road ahead

Kiyabo’s career combines traditional banking disciplines—credit, deposits, profitability, risk and governance—with emerging priorities including digital banking, agency networks, bancassurance, product innovation and cooperative asset financing.

The H1 2026 figure represent 195% growth in deposits, 388% growth in loans, a 65% reduction in the NPL ratio and 161% growth in total assets and illustrate the scale of the Bank’s current transformation.

The next challenge is converting that momentum into durable institutional strength while maintaining asset quality, customer value, digital trust and the Bank’s cooperative identity.

From a clerical accountant in Tabora, to a branch manager in Arusha, to transforming a community bank in Tandahimba, Mtwara, and helping establish a new national cooperative banking platform, Kiyabo’s career has evolved alongside the institutions he has served.

At Co-operative Bank Tanzania, his focus is now on building a commercially sustainable, technologically competitive and inclusive institution capable of serving Tanzania’s cooperative economy at scale.

For Kiyabo, the next chapter is therefore about more than growing a banking portfolio. It is about demonstrating that cooperative banking can be commercially sustainable, technologically competitive and genuinely transformative for the people, cooperatives and enterprises it serves.

His career offers a compelling proposition for the future: that profit and impact do not have to be opposing forces. When financial institutions understand their customers, build the right partnerships, manage risk with discipline and innovate around real economic needs, growth can become a vehicle for inclusion and inclusion can become a driver of sustainable growth.

For a banker whose career has been defined by transformation, that may be the most important institution he helps build yet.