Tanzania C’bank Says It Is Working Cryptocurrency Push

Tanzania’s central bank IT is working on President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s directive to prepare for crypto-currencies, pointing to a possible reversal of a ban it put in place in 2019.

Speaking during the opening a new central bank branch in the northern town of Mwanza this month, Hassan said there has been an emergence of blockchain technology or cryptocurrency in the financial sector.

She said many countries in the world have not accepted or started using these currencies but that she urges the central bank to start working on those issues. Just be prepared.

Her comments made shortly after El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as a legal tender, prompted fresh debate over the role of cryptocurrencies in economies and remittance transfers.

Tanzania’s central bank banned cryptocurrencies in November 2019, saying they were not recognised by local law, but it now says it is adapting following the president’s comments.

Meanwhile, a Bank of Tanzania spokesperson said the bank is working on the directives given but declined to give further detail.

The spokesperson did not respond to questions on whether the bank plans to adopt existing cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, or was looking to issue its own digital currency as China has done.

The new president, who came to power after the death of her predecessor in March, said this month the arrival of digital currencies in the East Africa nation was inevitable.

Hassan’s comments reflect her much more open attitude to foreign investment, a shift from the stance of her predecessor John Magufuli, who tussled with foreign gold miners and even locked horns with neighbouring Kenya over access to the market.