Tanzanian Shilling (TZS)

A short history of the Tanzanian Shilling

Tanzania was born in 1964 from the union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, and in 1966 the Bank of Tanzania issued the Tanzanian shilling, replacing the East African shilling shared with Kenya and Uganda. A new country, a new currency — but a familiar face to anyone who had traded in East Africa.

The shilling's early decades were shaped by the socialist Ujamaa experiment launched with the 1967 Arusha Declaration: banks were nationalized, the state ran the economy, and the currency was tightly administered. Liberalization from the mid-1980s onward rebuilt a market economy, and the shilling has traded in a managed float since the 1990s.

Modern Tanzania leans on gold — its biggest export — along with cashew nuts, coffee and the gemstone tanzanite, found almost nowhere else on Earth. Tourism is a pillar: the Serengeti, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar's beaches draw visitors from every continent, and offshore gas discoveries promise more. Through 2023 and 2024 the shilling came under pressure from import demand, and the Bank of Tanzania tightened policy to steady it.

What moves the TZS exchange rate

The shilling floats under management, and its drivers are the exports, tourists and imports of an economy still building its industrial base.

• Gold and agricultural exports: gold, cashews and coffee dominate merchandise earnings, so world commodity prices feed directly into the currency
• Tourism: mainland parks and Zanzibar bring seasonal foreign exchange, concentrated in the high season
• Imports and the port: fuel, machinery and consumer goods must be paid for in dollars, and Dar es Salaam's port also serves landlocked neighbors, adding regional demand
• Bank of Tanzania policy: rate decisions, interventions and reserve management steady the shilling within its managed float

The Tanzanian Shilling in practice

Tanzania is a cash-first economy outside its cities: markets, dala-dala minibuses, street food and most Zanzibar guesthouses run on shilling notes. Mobile money is nonetheless everywhere — Vodacom's M-Pesa and its rivals mirror Kenya's success — and cards work in hotels, lodges and urban restaurants. At national parks and ferry offices, payments often go through card machines or official apps, but their reliability varies, so carry backup cash. Carry smaller notes as well; change is a chronic problem at market stalls.

The shilling is a closed currency in practical terms: almost no exchange desk abroad stocks it, so convert on arrival and change the rest before you leave. For remittances, Tanzania's flows are smaller than Kenya's but growing, arriving from the United States, Europe and the Gulf, often straight into mobile wallets. For businesses and safari operators, pricing is commonly quoted in dollars while costs are paid in shillings, so the exchange rate is a live margin issue — and park fees, visibly listed in dollars, are settled through that same conversion.

Popular Tanzanian Shilling conversions

USD/TZS is the reference pair for tourism, imports and the port economy. EUR/TZS and GBP/TZS serve European travelers and aid-linked flows, while KES/TZS is the key regional pair for trade and travel within the East African Community.

Frequently asked questions