Source: Reuters.

Original news wire available here.

Dar Es Salaam, September 22 - Workers at Tanzania’s National Microfinance Bank (NMB), due to list on the Dar es Salaam stock exchange in October after an IPO, went on strike on Monday over benefits, the bank said. NMB Chief Executive Ben Christiaanse told a news conference all the branches were closed on Monday and the bank, Tanzania’s largest by number of branches, customer deposits and profitability, declared the action illegal.

The bank’s roughly 2,000 workers are represented by the Tanzania Union of Industrial and Commercial Workers (TUICO). It was not clear how long the strike would last. The bank has more than one million customers and 120 branches and plans to double the number of ATMs by the end of the year from a current 100.

The government, which has a 51 percent stake in NMB, is selling 21 percent of the bank worth USD 53.8 million (63 billion Tanzania shillings), and 5 percent of this is reserved for the bank’s workers. The share offer, open only to Tanzanians, closed on Sept. 8. It was about three times over-subscribed.

NMB’s prospectus shows the union was demanding a lump sum payment before the government offloaded its shares, but that the company was saying that would mean the workers would have to waive their rights to the 5 percent stake. Workers say the payment relates to the 2005 privatisation of the bank.

Rabobank [RABN.UL] of the Netherlands owns 34.9 percent while Exim Bank Tanzania Ltd, the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture and National Investment Co Ltd (NICOL.TZ) own 14.1 percent.