Fintechs play a vital role in Tanzania’s financial sector, bridging the gap between traditional financial services and novel digital solutions.
The rise of fintechs in Tanzania has streamlined the delivery of financial services, extending financial inclusion to previously financially excluded communities. Fintechs have increased the speed and access to financial services such as domestic money transfers, international remittances, micro credit, and insurance services, to name a few.
Despite the rapid growth of fintechs, policy and regulations have not moved at the same pace, resulting in fintech founders navigating a complex policy and regulatory environment. Fintechs have struggled to identify which regulators to approach, licenses to procure, and key regulations and guidelines that apply to their business models.
UNCDF, in partnership with the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), is working to support innovators operating in Tanzania’s dynamic fintech ecosystem. As part of this effort, UNCDF published a report mapping Tanzania’s fintech landscape in 2021, titled ‘Mapping the Tanzanian Fintech Startup Landscape’– which identified the leading fintech segments and key industry players. Following the fintech mapping, UNCDF launched the PesaTech Accelerator programme in 2022, which aims to identify and foster the growth of Tanzanian start-ups in the fintech space.
Similarly, in 2024, BoT launched its Fintech Regulatory Sandbox and accompanying regulations to support the development of a supportive enabling environment for fintechs in Tanzania. Despite these interventions, fintech innovators still struggle to navigate Tanzania’s regulatory landscape, which continues to adapt to the new business models and technology applications in the fintech space.
To better support the fintech-enabling environment, UNCDF conducted a landscape assessment of Tanzania’s fintech ecosystem and the policy and regulatory landscape in 2024. The report mapped the key stakeholders, policies, and regulations across Tanzania’s five fintech segments:
- payments and remittance,
- credit and lending,
- accounts and savings,
- investment facilitation, and
- insurance,
as well as Tanzania’s e-commerce segment, which incorporates several fintech elements in its business models.
This report identified the lack of clarity on how to navigate the existing legal and regulatory environment and the absence of policies and guidelines addressing the unique needs of startups and fintechs in Tanzania.
