Capital Markets and Portfolio Investment

Under the Capital Markets and Securities (Foreign Investors) Regulation 2014, there is no aggregate value limitation on foreign ownership of listed non-government securities. Only foreign individuals or companies from the other East Africa Community (EAC) nations (Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Uganda) are permitted to participate in the government securities market. Telecoms companies in Tanzania are obliged to float a 25 percent stake on the DSE; whilst as part of mining (Minimum Shareholding and Public Offering) Regulations 2016, large scale mining operators are required to float a 30 percent stake on the DSE. Many investors have secured credits on the local market.

IMF reported in its January 2017 Fifth Review under the Policy Support Instrument that the “banking sector is well-capitalized, liquid and profitable on average.” On March 6, 2017, the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) decreased the interest rate which it charges for lending to other banks from 16 percent to 12 percent to increase access to credit for the private sector. Private sector companies have access to a variety of commercial credit instruments including documentary credits (letters of credit), overdrafts, term loans, and guarantees. As of June 30, 2016, the banking sector was composed of 41 full-fledged commercial banks, 3 financial institutions, 12 community banks, 4 deposit taking microfinance banks, 3 financial leasing companies, and 2 private credit reference bureaus. Financial inclusion is dramatically increased contributed to successfulness of mobile banking. Credit Info Tanzania Limited and Dun & Bradstreet Credit Bureau Tanzania Limited are only two private credit bureaus operating in Tanzania.

Tanzanian regulations permit unconditional transfers through any authorized bank in freely convertible currency of net profits, repayment of foreign loans, royalties, fees charged for foreign technology, and remittance of proceeds. The only official limit on transfers of foreign currency is on cash carried by individuals traveling abroad, which cannot exceed $10,000 over a period of 40 days.