Tanzania’s central bank has purchased roughly 28 metric tons of gold over the past 18 months as part of efforts to strengthen its international reserves and support the shilling, according to Governor Emmanuel Tutuba.
Tutuba, cited in a finance ministry statement released Wednesday, said the gold acquired is now worth $3.68 billion at current market prices. He had originally made the comments a day earlier while speaking at an International Monetary Fund-World Bank meeting in Gambia.
The Bank of Tanzania has been building up its gold reserves since around 2023. In September 2024, the country’s mining regulator directed all mining companies and gold traders to set aside at least 20% of their output for sale to the central bank. Tanzania ranks among Africa’s top ten gold-producing nations.
Tutuba noted that the gold purchase initiative has had a notable side effect, leading mineral traders and small-scale miners to open more than 4,000 new accounts at financial institutions. During last week’s interest rate announcement, he said Tanzania’s reserves stood at approximately $6 billion, enough to cover 4.3 months of imports.
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