by Ben Taylor
Rapid growth in mobile internet access, and mobile money
The Tanzanian Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA) has reported rapid growth in internet access in recent years, driven primarily by the use of mobile phones. The latest Communication Statistics Report, covering January to March 2025, reveals that internet service subscriptions have grown to 49.3 million, close to double the figure from December 2020 (25.2 million).

Mobile broadband (defined as 3G and above) leads with 27 million subscriptions, while a further 22 million depend on 2G subscriptions. Around 230,000 have fixed-line internet subscriptions. Many users may have more than one subscription.

According to the report, the improved connectivity is driven by significant infrastructure upgrades, and is reshaping the country’s social and economic landscape. The report shows that the population living in areas covered by 3G networks grew to 92.2%, while 4G coverage increased to 91% percent, and 5G coverage rose to 23%.

Meanwhile, a Bank of Tanzania Report covering payment systems in 2024 reported that the value of mobile money payments rose by 29% compared to 2023, which itself had seen a 35% rise above 2022 figures. The total value of mobile money payments in 2024 is reported as TSh 198.9 trillion (approx. GBP £55 billion), up from TSh 114 trillion in 2022. Dr Tobias Swai of the University of Dar es Salaam said one of the most significant benefits of Tanzania’s digital payment boom is the impact on financial inclusion. He said digital platforms have allowed millions of people, especially in rural areas, to access financial services without the need to visit a physical bank branch. “This shift is making financial services more accessible and convenient for people across Tanzania,” Dr Swai said.

For context, Tanzania’s GDP in 2024 is estimated at USD $79 billion (approx. GBP £59 billion.) The mobile money sector’s total transaction value being close to or exceeding Tanzania’s GDP in 2024 underscores its critical role in the economy. However, the high proportion likely reflects the rapid circulation of funds, where the same funds are transacted multiple times within a year, inflating the total value relative to GDP, rather than mobile money directly contributing an equivalent amount to economic output.

by Charlotte Baker
Attacks on people with albinism in Tanzania: African court holds government responsible – why it matters
Charlotte Baker, Professor of French and Critical Disability Studies, Lancaster University
This article was originally published on TheConversation.com

People with albinism face widespread discrimination in many sub-Saharan African countries. In Tanzania, this minority has been subjected to extreme forms of violence. The government’s failure to protect their rights prompted the filing of a case before the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. The case was brought by Tanzanian and international civil rights groups against the government of Tanzania. They were seeking more robust legal protections from the state for people with albinism.
In February 2025, the court delivered a landmark judgment, holding Tanzania accountable for human rights violations against persons with albinism.

What is the background to the case?
Human rights violations and abuses against people with albinism in Tanzania are common. This includes extreme forms of violence such as killings, abductions, mutilations and infanticide. Even after a person with albinism has died, their graves are at risk of exhumation to obtain body parts for sale.

A range of traditional and more modern beliefs drive the oppression of people with albinism. However, structural reasons related to social inequities have created a market in the body parts of people with albinism. These are used for the production of “charms” by “witchdoctors” who promise they’ll bring wealth and success.

The first media reports of attacks on people with albinism in Tanzania emerged in 2007, bringing international attention to the issue. Since then, over 700 attacks and killings in 28 countries have been reported to the Canadian NGO Under the Same Sun, although many more go unrecorded. The organisation works to end discrimination and violence against persons with albinism.

In Tanzania, there have been 209 reports of attacks since 2007. In June 2024, a two-year-old girl with albinism was abducted and killed in Kagera region.

What does the court ruling mean for persons with albinism?
Under international human rights law, the fundamental rights of persons with albinism must be protected under the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Upholding the rights of people with albinism would ensure that they were treated fairly and with respect.

The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights found that, although some steps have been taken in the right direction, Tanzania has violated the right to life of persons with albinism by not protecting them as required under Article 4 of the African Charter. It also found the state violated the right to non-discrimination by failing to put enough measures in place to fight myths and stereotypes relating to albinism.

What does the Tanzanian government need to do?
The court determined that superstitions and harmful beliefs had led to discrimination and the targeted killings of persons with albinism. It ordered the government to make provision for nationwide awareness campaigns for at least two years to combat myths and superstitions about albinism.

The court requires the Tanzanian government to amend the 1928 Witchcraft Act to criminalise attacks against persons with albinism. This is in response to UN Resolution 47/8 on the elimination of harmful practices related to accusations of witchcraft and ritual attacks.

The government of Tanzania is also ordered to implement its national action plan on the protection of persons with albinism. The national action plan should address stigma and structural issues that lead to discrimination.

The government must also ensure the right to health protection. This includes access to skin and eye health services. Providing protective clothing and sunscreens can be lifesaving.

Meeting the needs of children with albinism in educational settings must be a priority for the Tanzanian government. This can mean minor adaptions to classroom layouts and access to visual aids. Most importantly, it requires a change in attitudes among teaching staff and other pupils.

Tanzania has also been ordered to establish a compensation fund and compensate persons with albinism who have been victims of violent attacks.

What power does the court have to ensure enforcement?
The African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights has instructed Tanzania to publish the judgment on government websites within three months. It should remain accessible for at least a year.

The government must also submit a report on the implementation of the ruling within two years. If it hasn’t fully complied within three years, a hearing will be held. However, the court has a non-compliance crisis and there are no built-in consequences in its protocol.

The partners involved in bringing the case will monitor Tanzania’s compliance with the court’s orders.

The Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa has called on civil society organisations, policymakers and human rights defenders to support efforts to protect the rights of people with albinism in Tanzania and beyond.

by Ben Taylor

Joseph Moses Oleshangay, a Tanzanian lawyer and activist campaigning for the rights of the Maasai people, has been awarded the 2023 Weimar Human Rights Prize. In accepting the award, he vowed to continue the fight, describing the award as a recognition for his work. Mr Oleshangay is an Arusha-based lawyer with the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC), a leading human rights organisation in the country.

The Wiemar prize is awarded annually to people, groups or organisations committed to protecting and enforcing fundamental human rights worldwide. It is presented on December 10 yearly to coincide with the United Nations’ International Human Rights Day.

The prize recognises Mr Oleshangay’s fight to protect the fundamental rights of his Maasai people in Ngorongoro and Loliondo, where authorities have been trying to “relocate” them to other parts of the country.

Authorities say the human population in the areas has unprecedently shot up, putting both the lives of human beings and wildlife in jeopardy.
Despite calls for the government to stop its controversial exercise, the work has continued and the authorities are determined to “relocate” as many people as possible from Ngorongoro to designated areas of Msomera, Saunyi and Kitwai. Chief Government’s Spokesperson Mobhare Matinyi said in December that more houses are being constructed in the designated villages to receive more people expected to relocate from Ngorongoro.

“With all the challenges we have found ourselves in, I am still hopeful that though we do not know when this is going to end, I believe it’s going to crash one day,” said Oleshangay. “This repression will crash because it’s against the law, against human rights and known standards. It really defies logic in displacing thousands of people and replacing them with businesses like hotels.”

“It can’t be tolerated that 10,000 people get expelled from their lands,” said Michael Brand, a German politician who spoke at the award ceremony. He described Oleshangay as a “defender of human rights” with “impressive civility, experience and spirit.”

by Ben Taylor

Deadly floods and landslides in Katesh
Early December 2023 saw extreme weather northern Tanzania that caused devastation in the small town of Katesh, in Hanang District, Manyara Region [see cover]. Heavy rains across the region had their worst impacts in Katesh and the nearby village of Gendabi, where a total 87 people were killed by floods and landslides. Around 100 more were injured, while homes, vehicles, livestock and agricultural land sustained extensive damage. An estimated 5,600 people have been left homeless.

Rescue efforts were coordinated by the government National Disaster Management Committee (NDMC) with the assistance of the military. Roads, bridges and communications infrastructure had also been badly damaged, hampering the work. A school in Katesh was used as an emergency refuge centre.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan cut short her attendance at the COP28 climate change conference in Dubai in order to visit the area. She described the disaster as “a wake-up call for the government to take the necessary measures to detect the signs and alert people in advance to avoid serious consequences like these.” She also expressed her dismay over people who continue to live in the flood prone lowlands and river valleys, especially in towns and cities.

President Hassan said new houses costing between TSh25 million to TSh30 million each would be constructed for the flood victims who lost their homes. “They will be resettled in entirely new areas and assisted to have their children back to school. These people lost everything including livestock and food stocks,” she said.

East Africa has been hit for weeks by torrential rains and floods linked to the El Niño weather phenomenon. Typically associated with rising temperatures, droughts in some parts of the world, and heavy rains in others, El Niño effects are expected to last until around April.

The disaster – and similar incidents elsewhere in East Africa – brought back memories of the rains and floods of 1997-1998, also an El Niño year, which left over 6,000 people dead across the region.

In this more recent case, the floods followed the worst drought in four decades. Scientists say extreme weather events such as flooding, storms, droughts and wildfires are being made longer, more intense and more frequent by human-induced climate change. (Al Jazeera, The Guardian, VoA, The Citizen)

by Ben Taylor

German President expresses shame over colonial atrocities
The German president, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, has expressed “shame” for the colonial atrocities his country inflicted on Tanzania.

German forces killed around 300,000 people during the Maji Maji rebellion in the early 1900s, one of the bloodiest anti-colonial uprisings.

“I would like to ask for forgiveness for what Germans did to your ancestors here,” he said, speaking at a museum in Songea. “What happened here is our shared history, the history of your ancestors and the history of our ancestors in Germany.”

President Steinmeier said he hoped the two countries could together work towards “communal processing” of the past. He promised those present that he would “take their stories with me to Germany, so that more people in my country will know about them.”

Professor Jürgen Zimmerer of the University of Hamburg said that Germany has, until recently, had “colonial amnesia” around the brutality and racism of their former empire.

As part of the three-day visit, the president met the descendants of one of the Maji Maji leaders, Chief Songea Mbano, who was among those executed in 1906. President Steinmeier told the family the German authorities would try to find his remains. Thousands of human remains were brought from German colonies – partly as “trophies” but also for racist research.

In a separate development, researchers in Berlin have successfully identified living relatives of people whose remains were stolen from Tanzania and taken to Germany for “scientific” experiments during the colonial era.

The Museum of Prehistory and Early History in Berlin has been carrying out research for several years on around 1,100 skulls taken from what was then known as German East Africa. In September the museum reported that DNA analysis had provided a clear link to living descendants in Tanzania, hailing the find as a “small miracle”.

“The relatives and the government of Tanzania will now be informed as soon as possible,” the museum said in a statement.

by Ben Taylor
In late 2022, the parliament of Tanzania enacted the Personal Data Protection Act – broadly an equivalent to the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union and the UK Data Protection Act. The Act spells out the responsibilities for any organisation that handles personal data of private individuals in Tanzania and provides for the establishment of a Personal Data Protection Commission.

The law is yet to come into force, however, as it requires both Presidential assent and for the Minister of Information, Communication and Information Technology to publish notice in the official government gazette stating the date when the Act will take effect.

The new law means Tanzania joins her East Africa Community (EAC) peers, Kenya, Uganda, and Rwanda, that already had Data Protection Acts in place. It will help the country participate in the global digital economy, as many countries have restrictions on doing business in jurisdictions that lack protections for data privacy.

Among other things, the law requires that all data processors and handlers must appoint a personal data protection officer, and outlines criminal sanctions and fines for those who breach the legislation.

The Personal Data Protection Commission established by the Act is tasked with registration of data collectors and processors, monitoring the compliance of data collectors and processors with the Act, handling complaints on the breach of data protection and the right to privacy, and researching and monitoring technological development in relation to data processing.

Any person or organisation that intends to collect or process data in Tanzania will need to be registered by the Commission. The Act also specifies that personal information may only be collected where necessary and for a legitimate purpose. To ensure accuracy of information, the Act places a duty on data collectors to take necessary steps to confirm that data collected is complete, correct and consistent with the purpose for which it was collected.

Disclosure of personal data without consent is punishable by a fine of up to TSh 5 billion (approx. USD $2.1m) for the institution responsible, and/or imprisonment for up to ten years for the individuals – including responsible officers within an institution.

The Act does not prohibit the transfer of personal data to jurisdictions outside the country, provided that such jurisdictions have a reliable legal system for the protection of personal data, and the transfer is necessary for a legitimate or public interest.

The Act also lays out the rights of individuals with respect to data held about them. This includes the right to be informed of data collection and processing as well as the purpose involved, the right to access the data collected and processed, the right to object the processing of personal data collected where such processing will lead to adverse impacts, the right to rectify personal data to ensure its accuracy, and the right not to be subject to automated decision making.

Stakeholders have given a cautious welcome to the new law. Maxence Melo, the founder of Jamii Forums, a popular Tanzanian online forum, said the law had been a long time coming, considering that the dream for the bill dates back to 2014. Melo added that it is important to foster data residency, meaning that personal data should be stored within the country, as a measure to ensure the data met regional and international data privacy standards.

However, others have expressed concerns that the law does not require the subjects of data security breaches to be notified, and that it imposes unnecessarily heavy restrictions on even small organisations handling small amounts of data about – for example – job applicants, beneficiaries of charitable work, or school students.

by Ben Taylor
Tanzanian citizen dies fighting in Ukraine
Nenes Tarimo, a Tanzanian citizen fighting for Russia in the Donbas region of Ukraine, has died at the age of 33. His family received official notification in December from the Tanzanian Embassy in Moscow.

According to family members, Tarimo had been serving a prison term for a drug related case. In return for a promise of his release from prison after six months of fighting in the battlefield, he was given the oppor­tunity to join the Wagner Group, variously described as a paramilitary organisation, private military contractors and Vladimir Putin’s de facto private army.

“He informed us that he was joining the war against Ukraine. We begged him not to join but he said you never know if I will get my free­dom so he joined, and the last time we contacted him was October 17 and he was no longer reachable,” a relative told The Citizen newspaper.

They say that Tarimo had originally travelled to Russia for postgraduate studies at the Russian Academy of Technology, MIREA.

by Ben Taylor
Rishi Sunak’s Tanzanian connections
The United Kingdom’s latest Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, has roots in Tanzania. His maternal grandparents lived in Tanzania before moving to Britain in the 1960s, reportedly in response to post-independence rules that required non-citizens to either take citizenship or leave the country.

In his book, Going For Broke: The Rise of Rishi Sunak, published in 2020, Lord Michael Ashcroft described Sunak’s maternal grandmother, Sraksha, as someone with extraordinary courage and vision: “a remark­able woman who grew up in rural Africa and gambled everything she held dear to give her children a better life”.

Sraksha was born to Hindu Punjabi parents in Tanzania. She learned Swahili as a child and considered Africa her home, although her family retained close ties with India. At the age of 16, she entered an arranged marriage with Rishi’s grandfather, Raghubir Berry, a railway engineer from Punjab then working in Tanzania, according to the biography.

She persuaded her new husband to build a new life in Africa, and Raghubir found a job as a tax official in Tanzania, where they raised three children: Rishi’s mother, Usha, and her two younger brothers.

In 1966, Rishi’s grandmother sold all of her wedding jewellery and bought a one-way ticket to the UK, leaving her husband and three chil­dren behind in Tanzania in the hope that they would one day be able to join her. There were no family or friends to greet her, but Sraksha made her way to Leicester and rented a room as a paying guest of a distant acquaintance.

She found a job as a bookkeeper with an estate agent, where she started saving every penny, and a year later was finally able to pay for her husband and children, including Usha, then 15, to join her.

Usha went on to study pharmacology at Aston University, where she was introduced by mutual friends to Yashvir Sunak. Sunak was a medi­cal student who had recently graduated from Liverpool University and whose upper-middle-class Punjabi family had moved to Britain from Nairobi during his young adulthood.

When Sunak became Prime Minister, some citizens in Kenya and Tanzania, especially those of Indian descent were proud to see a man whose parents were born and raised in their territory take up the UK’s top political office. “It’s another Obama moment for us,” said one resi­dent of Kisumu, Kenya.

Patel Suri, a Tanzanian investor of Indian descent based in Dar es Salaam told Quartz online magazine, “Indians are smart people. You will find them playing the role of CEO in many big tech companies across the world. Rishi Sunak is no different. He is intelligent and the right choice for prime minister at this point of the country’s political and economic challenges.”

A new British High Commissioner for the UK in Tanzania, Mr David Concar, took up his post in August.

Mr Concar previously served as Director of Protocol at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), as UK Ambassador in Mogadishu, Somalia between 2016 and 2019, and as the FCO head of international organisations department and commonwealth envoy between 2014 and 2016. He also worked as the FCO’s head of climate change and energy department between 2012 and 2014 and from 2006 to 2012 as the counsellor responsible for prosperity, climate change and energy, science and innovation in Beijing, China. Before joining the FCO he was a science journalist.

Mr Concar tweeted that he was “really excited to be returning to Africa, to start work with the UK’s wonderful team at the High Commission.” He replaces Sarah Cooke, who had served as UK High Commissioner in Dar es Salaam since 2016, during a time of sometimes strained relations between the diplomatic community and the government of Tanzania. Over this period, western diplomats in Tanzania have grown increasingly concerned about declining respect for democracy and the rule of law in the country, and have on occasion spoken out publicly with their criticism of the Tanzanian government.

Ms Cooke’s departure comes shortly after she attracted some controversy in Tanzania by meeting with opposition leader Zitto Kabwe of the ACT Wazalendo party. The Registrar of Political Parties wrote to Mr Kabwe demanding assurance that the meeting did not violate Section 6C(4) of the Political Parties Act, Cap 258. The Registrar’s office says the law prohibits non-citizens from holding meetings with leaders of Tanzanian political parties. ACT General Secretary Ado Shaibu responded by saying that “they held private talks, after all, he (Kabwe) is free to meet any person and talk about anything as provided under the country’s constitution.”