Tanzania, United Republic of CBDC Tracker

Tanzania is currently in the research phase.

CBDC History and Development

The Bank of Tanzania issued a public notice in early 2023 that said “the Bank of Tanzania has been researching and exploring potentiality of issuance of its CBDC” and “formed a multidisciplinary technical team to examine practical aspects of CBDC.” The notice concluded by saying that “the Bank of Tanzania has adopted a phased, cautious and risk based approach to adoption of CBDC” and “Upon conclusion of research phase, the Bank will provide information to the general public on the way forward, which may include a roadmap for transition to adoption of CBDC.”

Human Rights and Civil Liberties Concerns

Tanzania earned a 36 out of 100 in Freedom House’s 2023 Freedom in the World report. As Freedom House noted in the report, repression, surveillance, and corruption are major issues in Tanzania. The issuance or adoption of a CBDC in Tanzania could worsen these issues.

“Independent journalists and media outlets are subject to harsh repression in Tanzania,” according to Freedom House. “The 2016 Media Services Act grants the government broad authority over media content...” The Public Service Act of 2003 has also been used to restrict what government employees may say. In 2022, Africa News reported that a regional manager for the Tanzania Railways Corporation had been fired for criticizing taxes on mobile money transactions on social media. Unfortunately, a CBDC could be used as another tool in this effort. Across the world, governments have often turned to freezing and seizing the money of activists, political rivals, and protestors to undermine the opposition. A CBDC would make such initiatives easier by allowing governments to take direct control of each citizen’s finances.

In terms of surveillance, Freedom House reported, “The government historically monitored the population through a neighborhood-level CCM cell structure and has policed personal expression on social media in recent years.” Unfortunately, a CBDC could be used to greatly expand surveillance by putting financial records on government databases by default.

“Corruption remains a problem in Tanzania, and reform efforts have yielded mixed results,” reported Freedom House. “Recent audits have revealed that public funds were misappropriated or unaccounted for.” The existence of pervasive corruption is a major concern with CBDCs because it calls into question any promises that might be made by the government to limit surveillance, control, or other risks of CBDCs. Furthermore, the existence of corruption calls into question whether CBDC policies might be designed to exert political favoritism through subsidies, price controls, or other targeted restrictions.

For additional information on concerns regarding violations of human rights and civil liberties, see the following reports by Amnesty International, Financial Tyranny Index, Freedom House, Human Rights Watch, Privacy International, and the U.S. Department of State. For additional information on concerns regarding the risks of CBDCs, see the following webpage and report by the Cato Institute: The Risks of CBDCs and Central Bank Digital Currency: Assessing the Risks and Dispelling the Myths.

For additional information regarding metrics, the methodology page explains each of the data points and provides their respective sources.