Dar es Salaam. The Bank of Tanzania (BoT) has issued a strong warning to currency dealers suspected of hoarding US dollars to manipulate the black market amid the ongoing currency crisis.
Mr. Emmanuel Tutuba, the governor of the central bank, emphasized that the government is actively implementing measures to increase the supply of dollars.
He cautioned dealers suspected of withholding currency, highlighting the potential risks they face in the evolving economic landscape.
“I believe that those engaging in black market activities will face significant losses in the future because the economy is opening up and global economic risks are decreasing,” stated Mr. Tutuba during a meeting last week with stakeholders in the hospitality industry.
The governor expressed concern that foreign currency, particularly from hotels, is still finding its way into the black market.
He urged hotels to acquire licenses for currency exchange operations to ensure compliance with regulations. However, by March 2024, only one hotel had applied for a license, yet the Foreign Exchange Bureaus Regulations were amended in October 2023.
Additionally, Tutuba assured that the central bank remains committed to ensuring the availability of foreign currency and supporting legitimate forex market activities. At the same time, strict action will be taken against any illegal trading practices.
This warning coincided with the central bank’s recent sale of $100 million, part of broader efforts to ease foreign currency supply constraints in the country.
During a recent meeting with experts from the public and private sectors at the Technical Level Strategic Dialogue, Finance Minister Mwigulu Nchemba also hinted at the government’s efforts to find a way out of the current dollar shortage. He said that there could be light at the end of the dark tunnel once the country’s megaprojects start operations. According to him, the acquisition of raw materials for the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) and Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project (JNHPP) will require substantial foreign currency. “Once these projects conclude, the dollar crisis will be history,” he said.
At the height of the dollar crisis in mid-2023, the government intensified measures to alleviate the US dollar shortage in the country, which included providing export credit guarantee schemes and increasing exports by supporting local businesses.
Other steps taken by the government include the purchase of gold, where about 400 kg of gold were bought by July to reinforce the national reserve and provide a shield against the volatile greenback.
The dollar crisis in Tanzania is attributed to a combination of different factors, which include a shift in international trade dynamics, fluctuations in commodity prices, and geopolitical tensions. All these factors negatively affected the country’s economic activities.
However, a raft of measures, including a crackdown on the black market, have seen a gradual improvement in accessing the US currency, although businesses are yet to recover to pre-crisis levels where huge sums of the dollar were readily available at various financial institutions.
Today, many traders still can’t guarantee access to the US dollar, a situation which has continued to disrupt businesses by driving up costs of operation and trimming profit margins.
In the market, there are two parallel exchange rates, with lenders buying and selling well above BoT indicative figures and those on the front boards.
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Africa: Rwanda Gets a Grip Of Marburg, But Mpox ‘Not Yet Under Control’
Monrovia — The Rwanda Minister of State responsible for Health, Dr. Yvan Butera, cautioned that while the country is beginning to see positive signals in its fight against the Marburg virus, the outbreak is “not yet over”. He, however, expressed hope that “we are headed in that direction”. The minister said the epidemiology trend, since the disease was first discovered in the country more than a month ago, is moving towards fewer cases.
Dr. Butera, who was giving updates during an online briefing yesterday, said in the past two weeks, only two deaths were recorded while 14 people recovered from the disease. He said Rwanda was expanding its testing capacity with 16,000 people already inoculated against the disease.
The priority right now, Butera said, is “rapid testing and detection”.
Marburg is a highly virulent disease transmitted through human-to-human contact or contact with an infected animal. The fatality rate of cases, which has varied over the period, is more than 50%, according to the World Health Organization. WHO said the highest number of new confirmed cases in Rwanda were reported in the first two weeks of the outbreak. There’s been a “sharp decline” in the last few weeks, with the country now tackling over 60 cases.
At Thursday’s briefing, a senior official of the Africa Centers for Disease Control, Dr. Ngashi Ngongo, said mpox – the other infectious disease outbreak that countries in the region are fighting – was been reported in 19 countries, with Mauritius being the latest country to confirm a case. He said although no new cases have been recorded in recent weeks in several countries where outbreaks occurred previously – including Cameroon, South Africa, Guinea, and Gabon – Uganda confirmed its first Mpox death. This, he said, is one of two fatalities reported outside Central Africa.
Dr. Ngashi revealed that there was an increase in cases in Liberia and Uganda. He said mpox cases were still on an upward trend.
“The situation is not yet under control.”
Source: allafrica.com
Tanzania Declares End of Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak
Tanzania today declared the end of Marburg virus disease outbreak after recording no new cases over 42 days since the death of the last confirmed case on 28 January 2025.
The outbreak, in which two confirmed and eight probable cases were recorded (all deceased), was the second the country has experienced. Both this outbreak, which was declared on 20 January 2025, and the one in 2023 occurred in the north-eastern Kagera region.
In response to the latest outbreak, Tanzania’s health authorities set up coordination and response systems, with support from World Health Organization (WHO) and partners, at the national and regional levels and reinforced control measures to swiftly detect cases, enhance clinical care, infection prevention as well as strengthen collaboration with communities to raise awareness and help curb further spread of the virus.
Growing expertise in public health emergency response in the African region has been crucial in mounting effective outbreak control measures. Drawing on experience from the response to the 2023 Marburg virus disease outbreak, WHO worked closely with Tanzanian health authorities to rapidly scale up key measures such as disease surveillance and trained more than 1000 frontline health workers in contact tracing, clinical care and public health risk communication. The Organization also delivered over five tonnes of essential medical supplies and equipment.
“The dedication of frontline health workers and the efforts of the national authorities and our partners have paid off,” said Dr Charles Sagoe-Moses, WHO Representative in Tanzania. “While the outbreak has been declared over, we remain vigilant to respond swiftly if any cases are detected and are supporting ongoing efforts to provide psychosocial care to families affected by the outbreak.”
Building on the momentum during the acute phase of the outbreak response, measures have been put in place to reinforce the capacity of local health facilities to respond to potential future outbreaks. WHO and partners are procuring additional laboratory supplies and other equipment for disease detection and surveillance and other critical services.
Marburg virus disease is highly virulent and causes haemorrhagic fever. It belongs to the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease. Illness caused by Marburg virus begins abruptly. Patients present with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise. They may develop severe haemorrhagic symptoms within seven days.
In the African region, previous outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda.
Source: allafrica.com
