Registering a Company in Tanzania: Foreign Investment Rules, Steps, Costs and Chinese Chambers

Foreigners can register a company in Tanzania. Registration is done online through the Business Registrations and Licensing Agency (BRELA), and a private company needs at least two shareholders. You then need a tax number (TIN), a business licence, VAT registration and social security registration, and foreign shareholders and staff need their own work and residence permits.

The key point: since July 2025, non-citizens have been barred from 15 small business activities, including general wholesale and retail, small shops, phone repair, clearing and forwarding, brokerage and micro and small industries. Running small shops is no longer legal for foreigners; investment needs to go into manufacturing, construction, agro-processing or approved larger-scale commerce.

The 15 activities closed to foreigners (from 2025)

On 25 July 2025 the Minister for Industry and Trade signed the Business Licensing (Prohibition of Business Activities for Non-Citizens) Order, 2025 (Government Notice No. 487A, published 28 July 2025) under section 14A(2) of the Business Licensing Act. According to local press reports, non-citizens may not engage in:

1. Wholesale and retail trade (except supermarkets, specialised outlets and wholesale centres for local products)
2. Mobile money transfer agencies
3. Repair of mobile phones and electronic devices
4. Salons (except in hotels or for tourism)
5. Home, office and environmental cleaning
6. Small-scale mining
7. Postal services and domestic parcel delivery
8. Tour guiding
9. Radio and television publishing and operation
10. Kiosks and small shops
11. Business and real estate brokerage or agency
12. Clearing and forwarding
13. On-farm and off-farm crop purchasing
14. Gambling machines (except inside casinos)
15. Micro and small industries

Penalties: non-citizens face a fine of at least TSh 10 million or up to six months in prison, and may lose their visa or residence permit; Tanzanians who help them face a fine of up to TSh 5 million or up to three months in prison. Existing valid licences can be used only until they expire and will not be renewed. In January 2026 the Prime Minister said officers would be deployed to enforce the rules. For permit rules see Tanzania visas and work permits.

Earlier, in June 2025, a special task force told the trade minister it had found 183 foreigners operating illegally in Dar es Salaam’s Kariakoo area, 135 of them Chinese (The Citizen, 7 June 2025). In March 2026 the Tanzania Revenue Authority met Chinese traders and the Chinese ambassador and said its quarrel was with tax evaders of any nationality.

Company types

Business forms include sole proprietorships, partnerships, joint ventures, incorporated companies and registered offices (branches) of foreign companies. Foreign investors can set up representative offices, branches, subsidiaries, limited companies and public companies. All businesses must be registered.

Restricted and prohibited sectors

Mining is tightly regulated: the 2017 amendments give the government at least a 16% stake in each project and raised the royalty from 4% to 6%. In November 2025 the Mining Commission published a local content list reserving 20 categories of mining-related goods and services for companies 100% owned by Tanzanian citizens, effective 15 November 2025.

Registration steps (BRELA online system)

Registration is done through the Online Registration System (ORS) on the BRELA website. Companies with an investment certificate can also handle the certificate, company registration, tax and business licence at the investment authority’s one-stop desk.

1. Create an account and search the name: register with your ID number and check that your proposed name is free.
2. Prepare the Memorandum and Articles of Association: a lawyer can draft them or you can write them, but a lawyer must sign, stamp and notarise them; also complete Form 14b (declaration of compliance).
3. Fill in the consolidated form: name, shareholders, directors, addresses, company secretary, business activities and business address, signed by the relevant people.
4. Upload the documents and pay online; the certificate of incorporation is issued once approved.
5. Business licence: collect form TFN211 (two copies) from the district trade office.
6. Business licence tax clearance: declare the business type and expected annual turnover to the district tax office and prepay one month of corporate tax to get the clearance.
7. Apply for a TIN and tax clearance certificate; the clearance is needed for work permits and is renewed every one or two years.
8. Register for VAT and obtain a VRN.
9. Register with the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) as soon as you hire staff.

The business licence runs to 30 April of the following year and must be renewed annually. The application needs a Class A residence permit or Class B work permit, the memorandum and articles, the certificate of incorporation and the tax clearance, so shareholders should start their permits early; see Tanzania visas and work permits.

Main taxes (as of 2025)

VAT-registered businesses must use electronic fiscal devices. Tax authority: www.tra.go.tz.

Investment certificates, TISEZA and special economic zones

On 14 February 2025 Parliament passed the Investment and Special Economic Zones Act 2024, merging the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) and the Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA) into the Tanzania Investment and Special Economic Zones Authority (TISEZA): www.tiseza.go.tz, 1st floor, Golden Jubilee Tower, Ohio Street, Dar es Salaam.

The appendix of the MOFCOM guide gives USD 50,000 as the threshold for an investment certificate, but under the Investment Act 2022 foreign or joint-venture projects need at least USD 500,000 and Tanzanian-owned ones USD 50,000 (Clyde & Co, January 2025). Confirm the current threshold with TISEZA.

Under the former EPZ rules (2002 Act), zone companies had to be new projects exporting at least 80% of output and at least USD 500,000 a year; foreign investment in SEZs had to be at least USD 5 million. Incentives included a 10-year corporate tax holiday, duty and VAT exemption on raw materials, up to 20% domestic sales, and five automatic expatriate permits at start-up.

Parks relevant to Chinese firms: the Benjamin William Mkapa industrial park in Ubungo, Dar es Salaam; the Chinese privately invested Kwala industrial park near the Kwala dry port; and the Boda industrial park in Kibaha, with detergent and diaper factories.

Land

All land in Tanzania belongs to the state. Foreign investors can obtain derivative rights through their investment certificate, usually for 33–99 years. Foreigners who are not investors cannot buy land, land obtained for investment cannot be sold, and land left undeveloped for over three years can be taken back.

Bank accounts and foreign exchange

To open a company account you usually need the certificate of incorporation, business licence, tax registration, memorandum and articles, shareholding chart, board resolution, IDs or passports of directors and shareholders, and confirmation of business premises. Banks may also ask for the parent company’s licence, audited accounts, a reference letter and the lease.

Major local banks include NMB, CRDB and NBC. Bank of China has a representative office in Dar es Salaam (opened 2016), and China Dasheng Bank opened in 2018 to serve Chinese companies and individuals. Current account transactions are freely convertible and profits and dividends can be remitted through commercial banks. When changing money locally, US dollar notes must be printed after 2013.

Chambers of commerce and the embassy commercial office

The MOFCOM guide recommends consulting the Economic and Commercial Office of the Chinese Embassy before entering and registering with it after incorporation: No. 2 Kajificheni Close, Toure Drive, Dar es Salaam, tel. +255-22-2667585, tz@mofcom.gov.cn.

Main groups include the Association of Chinese Enterprises in Tanzania, the Chinese Chamber of Commerce in Tanzania, the China–Africa Private Chamber, the Chinese Mining Association and the Chinese Kariakoo Chamber; see the Chinese community in Tanzania.

Common pitfalls

• Retail models: even before the 2025 ban, the MOFCOM guide warned that foreign staff of trading and retail businesses struggle to get work permits.
• Labour disputes: Tanzanian labour law favours employees; dismissal requires repeated written warnings and a hearing, and active unions can sue or strike.
• Agents and middlemen: the MOFCOM guide advises relying on the embassy, using agents with care, and asking Chinese chambers before hiring a lawyer.
• Official harassment: if your papers are in order, defend your rights through legal channels and do not pay bribes. For security see the Tanzania safety guide; to compare with a neighbour see registering a company in Kenya.

References

1. Country Guide for Outward Investment and Cooperation: Tanzania (2025 edition) (PRC Ministry of Commerce, CAITEC and the Economic and Commercial Office of the Chinese Embassy in Tanzania, 2025)
2. Business Registrations and Licensing Agency (BRELA) (BRELA, Tanzania, 2026)
3. Tanzania Investment and Special Economic Zones Authority (TISEZA) (TISEZA, 2026)
4. Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) (Tanzania Revenue Authority, 2026)
5. Unlocking opportunities: How to register with the Tanzania Investment Centre (Clyde & Co, January 2025)
6. Tanzania bans foreigners from 15 small businesses (The Star (Kenya), 29 July 2025)
7. Foreigners barred from key small businesses as Tanzania enforces strict new rules (The Citizen (Tanzania), 29 July 2025)
8. Government vows tough enforcement of law restricting foreigners in small-scale businesses (The Chanzo, 15 January 2026)
9. Task force exposes hundreds of illegal foreign-owned shops in Kariakoo (The Citizen (Tanzania), 7 June 2025)
10. Tax authority meets Chinese business community amid growing tensions (The Chanzo, 24 March 2026)
11. Economic and Commercial Office, Chinese Embassy in Tanzania (PRC Ministry of Commerce, 2026)