Tanzania Opens Its Domestic Government Securities Market to Global Investors

Tanzania has fully opened its domestic government securities market to global investors, removing restrictions that had largely limited foreign participation to residents of the EAC and SADC and Tanzanians in the diaspora.

• •The Foreign Exchange (Amendment) Regulations, 2026, signed on July 13 and gazetted on July 17, allow non-residents to purchase, sell and transfer securities in Tanzania, including government bonds and other government loan instruments.
• •BoT subsequently said all non-resident investors can invest in Treasury bills and Treasury bonds through approved Central Depository Participants, subject to applicable foreign-exchange laws and operational requirements.
• •The foreign-investor reforms coincide with BoT's August 7 launch of a sovereign yield curve, which will provide a benchmark for pricing government securities, loans and corporate bonds while supporting price discovery and secondary-market development.

The move expands reforms introduced in 2022, when Tanzania opened its government securities market to residents of East African Community and Southern African Development Community countries as well as Tanzanians in the diaspora. The latest changes effectively extend that access globally.

The liberalisation comes as Tanzania seeks a wider investor base to finance growing domestic borrowing. The government plans to borrow TZS 3.27Tn (US$ 1.24Bn) domestically this fiscal year, nearly 11% more than a year earlier.

Central government debt stood at TZS 114.34Tn at the end of March 2026, up 8.97% from a year earlier, with domestic debt accounting for TZS 38.45Tn, or 33.63% of the total.

Treasury bonds accounted for TZS 31.61Tn, or 82.22% of domestic debt, reflecting a long-running strategy to lengthen maturities and reduce refinancing risks.

The domestic investor base, however, remains concentrated. Institutional investors, mainly pension funds and insurers, held 32.41% of domestic debt at March 2026, commercial banks held 28.42% and BoT 18.04%.

Opening the market globally could diversify demand beyond those investors while allowing Tanzania to attract international capital through shilling-denominated securities without directly adding the foreign-currency exposure associated with external borrowing.

Tanzania is separately considering a Eurobond this year if market conditions permit, with an adviser to the government telling Bloomberg a potential issue could raise as much as US$ 500Mn.

The initiative builds on years of market reforms. Tanzania has progressively introduced longer-dated Treasury bonds, developed a benchmark bond programme and upgraded links between BoT's Central Depository System and the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange.

Reforms have gained greater significance since Tanzania adopted an interest-rate-based monetary policy framework in January 2024, increasing the role of functioning financial markets in transmitting monetary policy.

BoT also introduced an electronic matching system for USD/TZS interbank foreign-exchange trading in May 2026 to improve transparency and price discovery

-Kenyan Wall Street