WARY OF CRYPTO, TANZANIA SHIFTS CLOSER TO OWN DIGITAL CURRENCY
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“It’s important for us to provide a central bank digital currency as a safe alternative because many people are being affected by cryptocurrency speculators,” Bank of Tanzania governor Florens Luoga said in an interview in Dar es Salaam, the commercial capital. The bank can’t ignore the technological advancement of money, he said.
Luoga spoke in reference to introducing a CBDC for payments similar to Nigeria, which was the first African country to start using the digital cash in October. China, the Bahamas, the Central African Republic, Kenya and Zambia are among the other nations that are issuing, piloting or studying consumer-facing digital currencies.
Luoga spoke in reference to introducing a CBDC for payments similar to Nigeria, which was the first African country to start using the digital cash in October. China, the Bahamas, the Central African Republic, Kenya and Zambia are among the other nations that are issuing, piloting or studying consumer-facing digital currencies.
The news is not completely unexpected though, because:
Firstly, in 2019, the Directorate of Economic Research and Policy at the Central Bank of Tanzania (BoT) issued a circular titled: STUDY ON THE CRYPTOCURRENCY AND ONLINE FOREX TRADING IN TANZANIA
This is the official document:
Secondly, on June 14, 2021 during her speech, the Tanzanian president Samia Suluhu Hassan had already instructed the Central Bank to Prepare for Crypto adoption.
TANZANIA'S PRESIDENT URGES CENTRAL BANK TO PREPARE FOR CRYPTO
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- President Samia Suluhu Hassan said the Bank of Tanzania should "be ready for changes and not caught underprepared".
- "I know that throughout the nation ... they have not accepted or started using these routes. However, my call to the central bank is that you should start working on that development," she said.
- Her speech took place after El Salvador's adoption of bitcoin as legal tender.
- Attention will be focused on other countries that spot an opportunity in crypto to boost economic development and stabilize financial instability.
And five months later, specifically in November, 2021, the Bank of Tanzania governor Florens Luoga already gave a hint about their preparations for them to have their own central bank digital currency (CBDC) during their 20th Conference of Financial Institutions (COFI) which was quoted on their central bank’s Twitter feed.
While this is a good move I am of the opinion that as long as it tied to the fiat it will still be affected by many external influences, inflation, taxes, Federal Reserve policy etc. Hopefully, we'd hear of the big announcement soon enough.
Tanzania Cheatsheet
Tanzania on Wikipedia
Tanzania on CIA World Factbook