Tanzania Hosts MKUMBI II Validation Workshop With 246 Reforms Proposed to Transform Tanzania’s Business and Investment Climate

On 2nd March 2026, the President’s Office – Planning and Investment of Tanzania hosted a validation workshop for the second-phase reform programme, MKUMBI II, aimed at improving Tanzania’s business and investment environment.

The workshop, held in Dar es Salaam, brought together ambassadors, development partners, private sector representatives, and government officials to review the draft blueprint and provide input before finalization.

Mkumbi II responds to emerging social, political, and economic dynamics, including Tanzania’s progress toward upper middle-income status and demographic growth pressures, while aiming to enhance regulatory quality, operational efficiency, and investor confidence.

The reform process involved consultations with 2,034 individuals from government and the private sector, 248 government institutions, and 465 private sector institutions, alongside 5,453 respondents through an online tool.

MKUMBI II proposes 246 actions across the following key clusters;

1. The first cluster focuses on simplifying and streamlining regulations and administrative procedures that impose unnecessary burdens on businesses.

Reforms include coordinating inspections through risk-based approaches, stabilizing and rationalizing regulatory fees in line with business size, and introducing a Business Facilitation Act requiring regulatory impact assessments.

They also include mandatory public consultations for new laws, and simplifying business licensing by integrating registration and sectoral licensing into a single interface.

The cluster aims to reduce compliance costs, enhance predictability, and eliminate overlapping mandates across regulators.

2. The second cluster centres on the digital transformation of government services.

Proposals include establishing a one-stop digital entry point for compliance across institutions, integrating existing e-platforms to ensure interoperability and upgrading the National ICT Broadband Backbone from 2Tb to 10Tb capacity

It also includes extending coverage to all wards, ensuring customer-oriented digital systems with two-way communication, automated notifications, and multilingual access.

The cluster also addresses data protection, cybersecurity, and secure digital identity systems to increase private sector confidence in online government services.

3. The third cluster addresses financial sector reforms to improve access to finance for MSMEs and larger enterprises.

Proposals include enabling movable assets, invoices, and contracts to serve as collateral, expanding credit scoring data sources to include mobile money and utility payment records

It also includes strengthening blended-finance mechanisms through development banks and piloting innovative instruments such as cash-flow-based lending and factoring.

The cluster also promotes venture capital development and broader capital market participation to diversify financing sources.

4. The fourth cluster focuses on infrastructure as a key enabler of private sector growth.

Reforms include improving road connectivity from production zones to ports and markets, prioritizing feeder roads, and stabilizing industrial power supply in priority corridors

It also includes broadening infrastructure financing through bonds and public-private partnerships and enhancing coordination across ministries and agencies to align infrastructure with industrial planning.

This cluster represents a major addition compared to MKUMBI I, which focused largely on regulatory reforms.

5. The fifth cluster aims to improve the efficiency and credibility of dispute resolution mechanisms.

Proposals include digital case management systems for courts, strengthening alternative dispute resolution mechanisms such as mediation and arbitration, and enforcing reasonable timelines for arbitral awards.

It also includes aligning arbitration frameworks with international best practices, establishing comprehensive land banks to reduce land-related disputes.

Reforms also include fast-tracking intellectual property rights legislation and integrating IPR registration platforms.

6. The sixth cluster focuses on improving coordination, coherence, and accountability across government entities.

Proposals include introducing key performance indicators for business facilitation across ministries, departments, and agencies, and legally backing inter-agency coordination mechanisms.

It also includes reforming performance metrics for regulatory bodies so they are not assessed solely on revenue collection, and embedding monitoring, evaluation, and learning frameworks to track reform implementation.

The cluster aims to ensure that businesses interface with government as a single, predictable partner rather than fragmented institutions.

Speaking at the event, the Minister of Planning and Investment, Prof. Kitila Mkumbo, emphasized that MKUMBI II is central to delivering Tanzania’s Vision 2050.

“If we are to deliver the ambitions of Vision 2050, particularly our vision of becoming a USD 1 trillion economy by 2050, we must radically improve our business environment,” said Prof.Mkumbo.

He added that the government intends to treat the private sector as a development partner rather than a stakeholder.

On his part, Tanzania’s Deputy Minister of Planning and Investment, Hon. Dr. Pius Stephen Chaya, said the reforms are essential to achieving Tanzania’s long-term development ambitions.

“Prosperity is born of sustained economic growth and economic growth is driven by innovation, and innovation flourishes in competition, and competition thrives in a cohesive business environment,” said Chaya.

On his part, Tanzania’s Permanent Secretary of Planning and Investment, Dr. Fred Msemwa, said the government remains committed to fostering a productive investment climate.

Msemwa said: “Our mission is to foster a productive business and investment climate in Tanzania by preparing and coordinating the implementation of policies, laws, and strategies that guide both the public and private sectors.”

During the programme presentation, the Chairman of Tanzania’s National Technical Team, Prof. Faustine Kamuzora, said the team undertook extensive consultations before drafting the reforms.

Kamuzora said the validation phase will continue with regional commissioners and local government authorities before finalizing the document.

He added that the team will incorporate stakeholder comments and produce two supplementary documents: an implementation action plan and a monitoring and evaluation framework.

About MKUMBI I & MKUMBI II

Introduced in 2918, MKUMBI I was the first Blueprint for Regulatory Reforms to Improve the Business Environment in Tanzania.

Under MKUMBI I, 94 laws were amended, and 628 fees were reduced or abolished, lowering compliance costs for businesses.

It also addressed overlapping mandates through mergers and restructuring of regulatory bodies and expanded electronic systems across multiple regulators.

However, a 2024 impact assessment highlighted remaining challenges, including regulatory fragmentation, infrastructure gaps, and emerging economic dynamics in Tanzania.

Therefore, MKUMBI II was developed to address persistent and emerging bottlenecks, align reforms with Tanzania’s Vision 2050 and the Fourth Five-Year Development Plan, and strengthen Tanzania’s competitiveness in attracting domestic and foreign investment.