Tanzania Govt not over regulating microfinance sector: Kijaji

Deputy minister for Finance and Planning Ashatu Kijaji

Dodoma. The government has played down allegations that it was over regulating the microfinance sector and restricting low-income earners, and lenders from accessing and providing credit respectively.

Deputy minister for Finance and Planning Ashatu Kijaji said there was a law in place to address the challenges that the sector faces.

“Some of those challenges included high lending rates and absence of consumer protection mechanisms,” said Dr Kijaji.

Last year, the Microfinance Act 2018 was passed to regulate microfinance firms, credit cooperatives and village saving banks, which are now supposed to be registered with the Bank of Tanzania.

According to Dr Kijaji, regulations of the law were published on August 2, 2019 in the government gazette number 575 and provide one-year grace period before being applied.