The Governor of the Bank of Tanzania has approved the licenses for more than 30 hotels to establish the Bureau de Change.
Its purpose is to facilitate currency exchange in the hotel industry and to comply with national financial regulations.
However, as of March this year, only one hotel had applied for the license, while others were allegedly exchanging or getting the services in foreign currency.
Business people in the country have voiced their concern about the black market caused by the dollar crisis in the country. Also, the investors had failed to meet the regulatory requirements, especially on the minimum required capital resulting in the presence of few exchange service providers, which led to the lack of the services in some important areas with high demands.
The licensing required for the hotels is lenient compared to other currency exchange operators who are required to have a starting capital of sh 200 million to sh 1 billion, however, the hotels have no requirement for the minimum starting capital.
In Tanzania, operating a bureau de change without a proper license is illegal and one can serve a jail term of up to 14 years or a fine of sh. 4 million or even both. The country has been grappling with a shortage of dollars since last year, largely attributed to external factors such
