Tanzania has opened its domestic government securities market to investors around the world, marking a major shift in its approach to attracting international capital. Under new foreign exchange regulations signed in July, non-resident investors can now buy, sell and transfer Tanzanian government securities, including Treasury bills and Treasury bonds, through approved Central Depository Participants.
The move expands on reforms introduced in 2022, when Tanzania first allowed investors from the East African Community and Southern African Development Community, as well as Tanzanians living abroad, to participate in its government securities market. The latest changes remove those regional limits and effectively give international investors broader access to shilling-denominated government debt.
The timing is significant as Tanzania looks to expand its domestic borrowing capacity. The government plans to raise about TZS 3.27 trillion ($1.24 billion) from the local market during the current fiscal year, nearly 11 per cent more than the previous year. Meanwhile, central government debt reached TZS 114.34 trillion at the end of March 2026, with domestic debt accounting for TZS 38.45 trillion. Treasury bonds made up more than 82 per cent of that domestic debt, showing the government’s growing reliance on longer-term local borrowing.
Opening the market to global investors could help Tanzania reduce its dependence on a relatively concentrated pool of domestic buyers, which currently includes pension funds, insurers, commercial banks and the Bank of Tanzania. It could also bring more international capital into the local market without creating the same foreign-currency exposure associated with borrowing directly in dollars or other major currencies. Tanzania is also considering a potential Eurobond of up to $500 million if market conditions remain favourable.
The reforms come alongside another major development: the Bank of Tanzania’s launch of a sovereign yield curve on August 7. The benchmark is expected to improve pricing and transparency across government securities, loans and corporate bonds while supporting the growth of the secondary market. Together with improvements to the country’s financial-market infrastructure and foreign-exchange trading systems, the latest measures signal Tanzania’s ambition to build a deeper, more transparent and internationally connected capital market.
source: kenyanwallstreet
