Corporate Governance in Tanzania: Emerging Regulatory and Governance Issues in the Financial Sector

The emergence of corporate governance has tremendously improved the business working environment since its inception in the world, and in Tanzania, in particular. The dramatic change of social and economic environment is the fruits of the development of corporate governance around the world. The concept of corporate governance has attracted researchers’ attention over the last twenty years due to several factors which include the widespread of capitalism and the rapid speed of privatization; the growth of companies; deregulation, and the integration of capital markets and globalization; pension fund reforms and the growth of private savings; shareholder activism. Among the areas in the Tanzanian financial markets whose corporate governance contribution cannot be left unnoticed is the financial sector. During the last decade financial sector in Tanzania, particularly banking sector, has witnessed rapid changes in the socio- economic and technological settings which impacted on economic, financial and business environments. It is, therefore, apparent that financial institutions and banks in Tanzania are facing exponential increase in business potentials and opportunities. The current experience shows that attaining a sustainable maturity of banking system is not only favourable to the banking institutions but also to the improvement of the whole business and economic environment. The range of innovative banking products and other financial products that are constantly being designed to consider the increased customer needs clearly indicates the changes that the financial sector has gone through during the last decade.

However, the successful banking product innovation is believed to be a function of better banking regulatory environment and sustainable banking systems accompanied with the good Corporate Governance practices. While many banking regulations have been launched in the last decade and some reviewed recently, there have also been several emerging banking developments and Corporate Governance practices improvement during the same period. This book will be one of the important references for researchers who focus their work on the governance of financial sector in Tanzania. The book specifically provides a comprehensive review of Corporate Governance practices in Tanzania and recent emerging issues in the Tanzanian financial sector.

Generally, the book is subdivided into eight chapters. The chapters in this book include; first, the Overview of Corporate Governance in Tanzania where theoretical background of Corporate Governance is presented; the second chapter describes the Corporate ownership and control in Tanzania where ownership structure and shareholders’ control in Tanzania are highlighted, the theoretical perspective of agency conflict between minority and majority shareholders is presented, the shareholders’ protection mechanisms in Tanzania are discussed in detail and compared with the OECD principles as the best practice. Finally, the chapter ends by evaluating the level of shareholders’ protection in Tanzania. Chapter three follows where the details of corporate board control and effectiveness in Tanzania are presented. This includes the role of corporate board, theories governing the board of directors, and both board independence and board size are also the part of discussions in chapter three.

In chapter four the public procurement compliance is detailed to emulate the role of corporate governance in the public procurement process. The chapter highlights the evolution of public procurement in Tanzania as a result of the corporate governance development; the concept of public procurement as the tool of Corporate Governance; principles of public procurement, and finally detailed assessment of the public procurement compliance level of selected 90 public institutions including 47 Local Government Authorities (LGAs) and 43 Other Government Institutions such as Government Agencies.

In chapter five, Corporate Governance of Banking Institutions is discussed where best corporate practices for banks are highlighted; corporate governance guidelines for banks detailed and finally Corporate Governance of selected listed banks in DSE analysed.

Furthermore, chapter six covers banking regulatory environment and access to financial services in Tanzania. In this chapter Tanzanian banking regulatory environment is highlighted; dimensions of financial inclusion are discussed followed by assessment of the landscape of financial services in Tanzania and, finally the barriers of access to finance are described.

In chapter seven the Mobile Money and Mobile Banking services in Tanzania are described where five sections are included which are; Evolution of Mobile Money and Mobile Banking, the Regulatory Framework of Electronic Payments in Tanzania, the Regulatory Framework for Mobile money and Mobile Banking Services in Tanzania.

Finally, chapter eight describes bank capital and regulatory framework in Tanzania which details the Arguments in favour of Capital Requirements, describes Capital Regulation Standards According to Basel Accords and closes the discussions by evaluating the Bank Capital Regulatory Environment in Tanzania.