What EFTA does

EFTA (Equity for Tanzania Limited) is a Bank of Tanzania-regulated equipment leasing company founded in 2004 that provides collateral-free financing to Tanzanian SMEs, farmers, and small entrepreneurs who lack the formal collateral required by commercial banks. The company self-describes as the #1 leasing company in Tanzania and operates 8 branch offices and 8 Cost Sales Points across the country, headquartered in Dar es Salaam. EFTA's core proposition is that the leased equipment itself — tractors, harvesters, buses, medical devices, mining equipment, safari vehicles, or even day-old chicks — serves as the sole collateral, addressing a structural financing gap for Tanzania's informal SMEs and agricultural sector.

EFTA's product platform spans more than ten specialized lease programs: Agricultural Lease (tractors, harvesters, processing equipment), Chicken Lease (a first-in-market product leasing day-old chicks and inputs to women and youth), School Bus Lease, Cargo Transportation Lease, 3-Wheeler Lease (last-mile transport), Sale and Leaseback (equity release), Consumer Lease, Afya Medical Lease, Mining and Construction Lease, Tourism Lease, and the EFTA STAR loyalty program offering interest discounts and 90-day grace periods to repeat clients. Underwriting is conducted through relationship managers and investment officers at branch level with tailored repayment schedules (seasonal, semi-seasonal, monthly, bullet) aligned to client cash flows, supported by a corporate website and online customer portal. There is no disclosed use of AI, automation, or proprietary technology platforms; the offering is fundamentally a relationship-driven financial services business built on local distribution.

EFTA generates revenue through equipment leasing income (interest and rental payments on leased assets) with quote-based pricing and typical ticket sizes between $10,000 and $80,000. The company is a subsidiary of EFAfrica Group Ltd, a Mauritius-based holding company formed in 2020 by co-founder Michiel Timmerman, which also operates EFKen Leasing (Kenya) and EFZA Leasing (Zambia) and serves over 1,500 lessee entrepreneurs across East Africa. Capital is sourced from a diversified stack including a TZS 33.04 billion oversubscribed corporate bond (220% of target), impact debt from AgDevCo and KfW, and partnerships with CRDB Bank, MEDA, Small Foundation, and TADB, with the company positioning for ongoing pan-African scaling via its parent group.

Name

EFTA

Legal name

Equity For Tanzania Limited

Website

https://efta.co.tz

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

EFTA (Equity for Tanzania Limited) is a Bank of Tanzania-regulated equipment leasing company providing collateral-free equipment financing to Tanzanian SMEs and farmers. Operating 8 branches and 8 cost sales points, it serves agriculture, healthcare, education, and transport sectors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Equipment Leasing Services

NAICS

Sales Financing (52222)

SIC

Finance Lessors (6172)

akta.pro primary industry

Equipment Financing / Leasing (Venture-backed) (FSANAIAE)

Keywords

• Equipment leasing services
• Agricultural equipment financing
• SME asset leasing
• Collateral-free leasing
• Medical equipment leasing

Headquarters

HQ city

Moshi

HQ country

Tanzania

HQ region

Africa

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Equipment Leasing: EFTA generates revenue through equipment leasing arrangements where the equipment itself serves as collateral. The company provides financing for agricultural equipment, vehicles, medical equipment, mining equipment, and other machinery to SMEs and farmers with flexible repayment terms including seasonal, semi-seasonal, and monthly options.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

EFTA is a Bank of Tanzania-regulated equipment leasing company providing financing for agricultural, transportation, medical, mining, construction, and tourism equipment to small and medium-scale enterprises and farmers in Tanzania. The company requires no additional collateral beyond the leased equipment itself, and offers flexible repayment structures (seasonal, semi-seasonal, monthly) tailored to client cash flows.

Product overview

EFTA (Equity for Tanzania Limited) is a Bank of Tanzania-regulated equipment leasing company with over 20 years of experience, operating eight branches across Tanzania. The company offers a diversified portfolio of leasing programs where the equipment itself serves as collateral, eliminating traditional collateral requirements. The core offering includes Agricultural Leases (covering tractors, harvesters, and processing equipment), Chicken Leases (poultry financing for women and youth), School Bus Leases, Cargo Transportation Leases, 3 Wheeler Leases for last-mile transport, Sale and Leaseback for equity release, Consumer Leases, Afya/Medical Leases for healthcare facilities, Mining and Construction Leases, and Tourism Leases for safari vehicles. The EFTA STAR Program serves as a loyalty add-on offering discounted rates and extended grace periods to repeat customers. The product portfolio targets SME businesses and farmers who lack access to traditional bank financing due to collateral requirements, with typical lease values between $10,000 and $80,000.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• EFTA STAR Program: A loyalty program offering special discounts and benefits to current and former clients, including more than 2% interest discount on repeat customers, interest earned on facility fees with good repayment history, greater flexibility, tax-deductible payments, instant approval, and extended grace period up to 90 days.
• Afya Loans

Products and services

• Agricultural Lease Equipment financing for agricultural value chains from farm preparation to processing, covering tractors, harvesters, threshers, and processing and packaging equipment with flexible seasonal, semi-seasonal, or monthly repayment options for farmers and agribusinesses.
• Chicken Lease First-of-its-kind chicken leasing product that provides day-old chicks, feeders, drinkers, feeds, and vaccines to women and youth entrepreneurs without additional collateral, with flexible bullet repayment terms.
• School Bus Lease Financing for standard and approved school buses with flexible repayments aligned to school fee collection calendars, requiring only 20% initial deposit with no additional collateral needed, targeted at school owners and transport providers.
• Cargo Transportation Leases Custom-designed lease program covering mid-size to heavy trucks with a 25% initial deposit requirement, supporting transport operators serving Tanzania's ports and agricultural logistics corridors.
• 3 Wheeler Lease Last-mile transport financing for urban markets, providing three-wheelers to young entrepreneurs with flexible weekly repayment over 60 weeks and no collateral required.
• Sale and Leaseback Program Equity release product that evaluates a client's existing assets at current market value, purchases them, and leases them back to the client to convert static assets into working capital.
• Consumer Lease Personal financing solutions for salaried individuals covering vehicles, machinery, and medical equipment, where the asset itself serves as collateral and clients can choose between financing or leasing based on personal needs.
• Afya / Medical Leases Medical equipment financing for private health facilities covering laboratory equipment, x-ray, ultrasound, and dental chairs with flexible installment terms and the leased equipment itself as security.
• Mining and Construction Leases Equipment financing for mining and construction sectors including tipping trucks, earth-moving machines, and associated heavy equipment, with the leased equipment serving as collateral.
• Tourism Leases Financing for tourism operators covering new converted and conversion-only safari vehicles as well as hotel equipment for safari and hospitality businesses.
• EFTA STAR Program Loyalty program for current and former clients offering more than 2% interest discount on repeat loans, interest on facility fees with good repayment history, greater flexibility, tax-deductible payments, instant approval, and extended grace periods of up to 90 days.

Quantifiable outcome

• Successfully raised TZS 33.04 billion (220.24% of TZS 15 billion target) through corporate bond issuance
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• EFAfrica GroupcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEFAfrica Group is the pan-African equipment leasing holding company headquartered in Mauritius with operations in Tanzania, Kenya, and Zambia. EFTA is a subsidiary of EFAfrica Group. The group serves over 1,500 lessee entrepreneurs across three countries.
• Farming and Engineering Services (FES) TanzaniacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFES Tanzania is a precision agriculture company founded in 1967. They partnered with EFAG for USD 10.4 million agricultural equipment lease - EFAG's largest lease transaction. FES operates in Kigoma region providing land preparation, planting and harvesting services.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• EFAfrica Group: Pan-African equipment-leasing holding company (parent of EFTA) operating in Tanzania, Kenya, and Zambia with 1,500+ lessee entrepreneurs; directly comparable as the parent platform using the same equipment-leasing model across multiple East African markets.
• Tugende: East African asset-financing company (Uganda, Kenya) providing motorcycle and vehicle leases to SMEs and ride-hailing drivers; the closest direct comparable to EFTA in terms of providing collateral-light asset finance to underbanked African entrepreneurs.
• PASS Leasing Company: Tanzanian equipment-leasing company (and prior employer of EFTA's Managing Director Nicomed Bohay); directly comparable as a domestic competitor offering asset-financing solutions to Tanzanian SMEs and smallholders.

Broad incumbents

• Letshego Holdings: Pan-African inclusive-finance group listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange, providing asset finance, micro-lending, and savings products across 11 African countries; comparable as a much larger, established incumbent operating a similar inclusive asset-finance model in Africa.

Emerging players

• M-KOPA: Kenya-based pay-as-you-go asset financing platform for solar home systems and smartphones serving underbanked households across East Africa; comparable to EFTA in its use of alternative-data underwriting and embedded asset-as-collateral model for informal customers.
• Sun King (Greenlight Planet): Global PAYG solar energy provider with deep East African distribution; comparable to EFTA in extending asset finance on a small-ticket basis to off-grid and informal customers via agent networks.

Regional players

• Rentco East Africa: Kenya-based equipment rental and leasing company serving construction, mining, and oil-and-gas customers in East Africa; comparable to EFTA's mining/construction lease product line, but with a rental rather than finance-lease model and Kenya-centric footprint.

Others

• BRAC Tanzania: Large NGO-affiliated microfinance institution operating across Tanzania serving micro-entrepreneurs and smallholders; competes for EFTA's target customer base but primarily via micro-loans rather than equipment leasing.
• FINCA Tanzania: Microfinance bank serving small entrepreneurs in Tanzania; competes for overlapping customers (notably Goodluck Philipo, EFTA's Head of Credit, was previously at FINCA), but operates in microcredit rather than equipment leasing.
• VisionFund Tanzania Microfinance Bank: Tanzanian microfinance bank part of World Vision's microfinance network serving low-income entrepreneurs; competes for the same customer pool as EFTA but with a savings-and-microcredit rather than equipment-lease model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/EFTA_tz
• Facebookfacebook.com/equityfortanzania
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/efta-ltd
• Instagraminstagram.com/eftatanzania/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles13 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors6 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about EFTA