The Deputy Governor of the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), Ms. Sauda Kassim Msemo, has underscored the importance of regional cooperation in strengthening the oversight of payment and settlement systems, noting that in today’s digital financial environment, no central bank can operate effectively in isolation.

Ms. Msemo made these remarks during the closing of a joint oversight meeting on payment and settlement systems for East African countries, held at the Bank of Tanzania premises in Dar es Salaam from March 30 to April 2, 2026.

She explained that over the four days, the meeting brought together various experts with a shared goal of enhancing transparency, resilience, and efficiency of payment and settlement systems. She commended the high level of participation, openness of discussions, and the practical exchange of experiences among participants, noting that these have strengthened their capacity to carry out their respective mandates.

“One key message has emerged from our discussions—in today’s rapidly evolving digital financial systems landscape, regional cooperation is not optional, but essential,” she said.

She further emphasized that increasing interoperability of payment systems requires coordinated, robust, and forward-looking approaches to oversight, particularly in areas such as risk-based supervision, compliance with anti-money laundering, countering the financing of terrorism and counter-proliferation financing (AML/CFT/CPF), transaction monitoring, and good governance.

Speaking about the participants’ visit to the digital financial service Mixx by Yas, Ms. Msemo said it provided practical insights into both the opportunities and challenges of financial technology (fintech) innovation, stressing that effective oversight must consider not only policies but also the operational realities of supervised institutions.

Ms. Msemo concluded by affirming that the Bank of Tanzania will continue to develop and strengthen financial market infrastructure, enhance regulatory and supervisory systems, and collaborate closely with East African Community (EAC) partner states and the EAC Secretariat to achieve shared objectives.