Tanzania wins awards for expanding Financial access

Tanzania received five awards from the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) because of its efforts to increase access to and use of formal financial services.

The AFI is an international organization including central banks and financial regulators from developing countries, with 84 member countries and 90 institutions. The organization aims to promote financial inclusion, ensuring citizens can access and safely use financial services, which supports national economic development.

Tanzania earned the Maya Declaration Award at a September 2026 meeting in Papua New Guinea for fulfilling commitments to improve financial inclusion. The country initially made 13 commitments and successfully implemented six, including creating and executing national financial inclusion strategies. Tanzania is currently implementing its third strategy, set to run from 2023 to 2028.

These efforts increased the rate of financial inclusion from 65 percent in 2017 to 76 percent in 2023, with internal measurements now showing it reaching 80 percent. Additionally, the number of adults without financial services decreased from 7.8 million in 2017 to 6.4 million in 2022, and access to financial services within five kilometers increased from 86 to 89 percent.

Tanzania also received awards recognizing its success in including women in financial services, and for leadership within the Bank of Tanzania.