Microfinance Business service providers in Tanzania

Microfinance Act 2018 was enacted by National Assembly on 16 November 2018 (see VELMA Law earlier post) and now the Bank of Tanzania (BOT) has published a Notice to the public requiring all persons engaged in “microfinance business” to submit to BOT by Thursday 31 January 2019 the detailed corporate and financial background information listed in the Notice, pending Regulations which are currently being prepared.

Any person is prohibited from carrying out any microfinance business, unless licensed by BOT.

“microfinance business” is business that includes:

• receiving money, by way of deposits or interest on deposits or borrowing and which is lent to members or clients;
• accepting savings and providing loans or other credit facilities to micro or small enterprises and low income households or individuals;
• providing micro-credit, micro-savings, micro-insurance, micro-leasing, micro-pension and micro-housing finance;
• transfer and payment services, including digital microfinance services;
• providing financial education; and
• any other related service as may be prescribed in the regulations.

Please contact us if you have any comments or questions.