The Bank of Tanzania (BOT) has opened applications for its Fintech Regulatory Sandbox, which will be open from January 2 through 22, 2025.

This project aims to foster innovation and financial innovations by providing a regulated testing environment.

Under the Bank of Tanzania (Fintech Regulatory Sandbox) Regulations 2024, the sandbox was created to facilitate the testing of financial services and products that aren’t entirely covered by current regulatory frameworks.

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Quarterly applications will be taken via the Bank’s Fintech Regulatory Sandbox application portal (frsp.bot.go.tz).

Responses will be given within 30 working days of the application window closing, and assessments will be conducted in accordance with regulatory standards.

Targeting banks, financial institutions, mobile money operators, electronic money issuers, and fintech companies, the initiative is led by Deputy Governor Financial Stability and Deepening Sauda K. Msemo reflects Tanzania’s dedication to establishing a regulatory environment that fosters financial innovation.

Sandbox created to remove regulatory bottlenecks

The Bank of Tanzania created Fintech Regulatory Sandbox in 2023 to give fintech companies a more accommodating setting to test their goods and launch with fewer regulatory restrictions.

Tanzania Startup Association (TSA) took an active part in this process, as did other ecosystem members. With the Ministry of Finance’s official approval of the Fintech Regulatory Sandbox, the fintech industry now has more room to innovate.

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Of Tanzania’s 842 known startups, fintech companies currently account for 8.83 percent, creating 9,888 jobs. Even before reaching product-market fit, numerous fintech businesses still encounter major obstacles because of onerous and expensive regulatory regulations.

These obstacles should be removed with the launch of the regulatory sandbox, enabling more entrepreneurs to join the market and fully exploit fintech’s potential to propel Tanzania’s socioeconomic growth.