Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Monday, March 27, 2023.
Tanzania’s Media Services Act: A manifestation of the man with the hammer syndrome?
The Media Services Act of 2016 of Tanzania shows the misallocation of power and limits individual freedoms such as freedom of expression, which is the key ingredient to an accountable government.
Media and human rights stakeholders expressed dissatisfaction with the law, which contained provisions that undermined existing freedom, and filed a constitutional case at the East African Court of Justice (EACJ).
In 2019, the EACJ found that 16 of the 18 clauses complained of violating the Treaty Establishing the East African Community and ordered the Tanzanian government to take corrective measures.
After a tireless discussion with the state actors, the Coalition on the Right to Information (CoRI) proposed about 35 changes desired in the Media Services Act of 2016 to increase media freedoms and individual freedoms.
However, the amendment Bill that the Attorney General of the Government submitted to the parliament in 2023 has proposed changes to eight sections, leaving critical sections such as the ones that criminalise defamation.
Full analysis here.
Fintech firm NALA receives PSP license from Bank of Tanzania
NALA, the fintech firm payments company born in Tanzania, has been granted a Payment Service Provider (PSP) License to operate in the country.
The fintech startup, which expanded from the UK and the USA to Europe earlier this year, received the license from the Bank of Tanzania, the East African nation’s central bank.
The license is a major milestone for the fintech as it enables it to develop a host of new offerings such as business payments, merchants services and outbound payments from Tanzania, and integration with banks and mobile money operators.
“Two of NALA’s biggest goals in the last year have been enabling direct integration to banks and telcos and tackling the challenges that businesses face in moving money across borders.’’ NALA’s Founder and CEO Benjamin Fernandes said.
“We have worked closely alongside the Bank of Tanzania to complete the appropriate steps to receive our license as a Payment Service Provider. With this new license in hand, NALA is committing to investing $1m to build our most ambitious projects in our home market of Tanzania,” Benjamin added.
The license was awarded as part of the ongoing initiatives and efforts of President Samia Suluhu Hassan to empower young people and foster an environment that makes it simple for businesses like NALA to invest in the nation.
NALA says it will make a major investment of $1m into Tanzania to support this product innovation and create new jobs.
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