Rwandan central bank team studies Bank of Tanzania’s in-house ICT systems

Dar es Salaam. A team of specialists from the National Bank of Rwanda (BNR) has concluded a four-day study visit to the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), where they studied how the central bank develops and operates its information and communication technology systems using internal expertise.

Held from November 24 to 27, 2025 at the BoT headquarters in Dar es Salaam, the mission formed part of the growing cooperation between the two institutions in strengthening financial-sector innovation and regional digital integration.

During the visit, the delegation received in-depth briefings on the BoT’s in-house development of digital platforms, quality-assurance procedures and the layered security frameworks that safeguard its ICT systems.

They also explored the bank’s document-management practices, which have improved efficiency in handling sensitive information across the financial sector.

The team toured the BoT Museum, where they learned about Tanzania’s monetary history and the institutional journey of the central bank since its establishment on June 14, 1966.

The visitors expressed satisfaction with the technical competence demonstrated by BoT experts, noting that the knowledge gained would support efforts to strengthen Rwanda’s financial-sector systems.

The mission follows commitments made four months earlier, when the BoT and the National Bank of Rwanda agreed to deepen cooperation through knowledge-sharing aimed at advancing financial stability and economic growth.

That undertaking was made during the July 2025 visit of the Governor of the National Bank of Rwanda, Soraya Hakuziyaremye, to the BoT in Dar es Salaam.

She held discussions with BoT Deputy Governor, Sauda Msemo, the Director of Payment Systems, Lucy Shaidi, and other senior technical officers. Governor Emmanuel Tutuba joined the meeting virtually.

The discussions centred on enhancing institutional capacity, particularly in managing payment-system infrastructure and strengthening monetary reserves.

Governor Tutuba said that Tanzania has made notable progress in building a modern, resilient payments ecosystem that now serves as a reference point for other African economies.

The partnership was strengthened a month later in August 2025, when Governor Tutuba met Rwanda’s Ambassador to Tanzania, Gen Patrick Nyamvumba, in Dar es Salaam.

The envoy commended Tanzania’s advances in digital payments, noting their role in easing business operations and expanding financial inclusion.

He also applauded the BoT’s gold-purchase programme, describing it as a strategic tool for bolstering foreign-exchange reserves.

Rwanda, he emphasised, was keen to draw lessons from Tanzania’s experience in both payment-system management and gold-reserve development.

Governor Tutuba underscored the impact of the Tanzania Instant Payment System (TIPS), developed internally by the BoT, which has significantly improved the speed and affordability of digital transactions nationwide.

He added that expanding trade and investment between the two countries provides renewed momentum for upgrading cross-border payment infrastructure to make transactions faster, more secure and more cost-effective.

The visit by the Rwandan technical team concluded with both sides reaffirming their intention to broaden collaboration in technology and systems development as part of efforts to advance regional integration within the financial sector.

This cooperation is unfolding against the backdrop of ongoing preparations by Tanzania and Rwanda to interlink their national retail-payment systems under the East African Community (EAC).

The initiative seeks to connect TIPS with Rwanda’s National Payment Switch (RSwitch), enabling real-time, low-cost cross-border transfers between bank accounts and mobile-money wallets.

Technical teams from central banks, national-payment institutions, AfrikaNenda, the Mojaloop Foundation and the EAC Secretariat have been addressing interoperability frameworks, regulatory harmonisation, governance structures and the broader economic model for the planned interconnection.

The bilateral link forms a Proof of Concept intended to demonstrate the feasibility of a direct cross-border retail-payment switch that could later be scaled to all EAC Partner States.

The initiative is expected to lower transaction costs, ease regional trade and widen financial inclusion by allowing citizens and businesses to make secure, instant payments across borders.

The project is supported by the Eastern Africa Regional Digital Integration Project (EARDIP), funded by the World Bank and coordinated by the EAC Secretariat.