The recognitions were announced during the AFI Global Policy Forum held in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, from September 1 to 4, bringing together financial-sector policymakers and regulators from member countries.
At institutional level, BoT was among finalists for the Financial Inclusion Policy Achievement Award and the Maya Declaration Commitment Award. The awards were won by the State Bank of Pakistan and Bangladesh Bank, respectively.
BoT was also recognised for its contribution to advancing financial inclusion and gender-inclusive finance, while two of its officials received individual recognition under AFI technical leadership categories.
Speaking in Dar es Salaam, BoT Manager for Financial Inclusion Services, Ms Nangi Massawe, said Tanzania’s progress was supported by successive national financial inclusion strategies. The country is implementing its third strategy, covering 2023-2028, after launching the first in 2013 and the second in 2017.
According to the FinScope survey, formal financial inclusion increased from 65 percent in 2017 to 76 percent in 2023.
‘Through the measurements we conduct in between the FinScope surveys, we are currently seeing financial inclusion moving towards 80 percent,’ Ms Massawe said. She said the number of adults without access to formal financial services had fallen from 7.8 million in 2017 to 6.4 million in 2022/23.
Physical access had also improved, with the proportion of the population able to access financial services within five kilometres increasing from 86 percent to 89 percent.
Mobile money usage rose from 60 percent to 72 percent, she said, highlighting the growing role of digital financial services in expanding access.
Ms Massawe said Tanzania had also narrowed the gender gap in financial inclusion from 10 percent in 2017 to 3.6 percent in 2022, with interim indicators suggesting it had since fallen to about two percent. She said the government had strengthened financial consumer protection and literacy programmes, while also taking steps to include people with disabilities and those affected by climate-related displacement.
On gender-inclusive finance, Ms Massawe said gender considerations had been incorporated into the 2023-2028 strategy, alongside a Gender Inclusive Finance Framework.
to guide financial institutions in developing products that address women’s specific needs.
AFI’s 2026 awards listing shows Ms Massawe as a finalist in the Financial Inclusion Strategy Peer Learning Group technical leadership category, while Dr Khadijah Kishimba was a finalist under the Consumer Empowerment and Market Conduct Working Group.
The AFI brings together central banks and financial-sector regulators from developing and emerging economies to advance inclusive finance policies and practices.