E-Government Development in Tanzania

As per the World Bank GovTech Maturity Index, Tanzania is among the continental and global GovTech leaders and ranks 2nd in Africa (after Mauritius) with a GTMI reaching 0.86. As of 2022 according to the UN E-Government Development Survey, Tanzania ranked 153 with an EGDI of 0.42 (compared to the Sub-Region average of 0.384).

Cybercrimes Act of 2015

Enacted in April 2015, the Cybercrimes Act criminalizes offenses related to computer systems and ICT. The Act addresses various cyber activities, including unauthorized access to computer systems, data espionage, publication of child pornography, dissemination of false, deceptive, misleading, or inaccurate information, production and dissemination of racist and xenophobic material, and violation of intellectual property rights. The law also provides mechanisms for the investigation, collection, and use of electronic evidence in legal proceedings. 

Personal Data Protection Act of 2022

 The Personal Data Protection Act No. 11 of 2022 was passed on November 1, 2022, to safeguard individuals’ right to privacy and personal security, as enshrined in Article 16 of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, 1977. The Act outlines the responsibilities of data collectors and processors, emphasizing lawful, fair, and transparent handling of personal data. Key obligations include:

• obtaining explicit consent from individuals before data collection;
• ensuring data accuracy and integrity;
• implementing appropriate security measures to protect data;
• providing mechanisms for individuals to access and rectify their data;

To enforce these provisions, the Act established the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC), which became operational on May 1, 2023. The PDPC is responsible for overseeing compliance, handling complaints, and promoting public awareness about data protection rights and obligations.

Electronic Signature Law

In Tanzania, the Electronic Transactions Act, 2022 (ETA, previous version was adopted in 2015) provides the legal framework for electronic transactions, including the use of electronic signatures. Section 6 of the ETA stipulates that where the law requires a signature, an electronic signature can fulfill this requirement, provided it meets the necessary standards for security and reliability.

 The ETA defines an electronic signature secure if it is:

•  unique to the signatory;
•  capable of identifying the signatory;
•  created using means under the sole control of the signatory;
•  linked to other electronic data in such a way that any alteration to the said data can be detected.

Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority serves as the certifying authority for electronic signatures in the country. 

In 2017, the Tanzanian government adopted the E-Government Architecture Vision Standard Technical Guides and the E-Government Interoperability Framework – Standards and Technical Guidelines in order to ensure the interoperability between different e-Government solutions, and, according to the Section 28 (g) of the e-Government Act (2019), ‘a public institution is supposed to maintain and promote integrated and interoperable systems to be used in service provision’. Many agencies collect information independently and their platforms are rarely integrated. In 2023, the Tanzania e-Government Authority developed a platform for data sharing between government agencies (Government Enterprise Service Bus, GovESB), but it is not yet fully implemented, with more than 175 agencies connected as of 2024. Nevertheless, as per the 2022 Performance Audit Report on the Business Registration and Licensing by the National Audit Office of Tanzania, the online business registration system by the Business Registrations and Licensing Agency (BRELA) (Online Registration System, ORS) was completely integrated with only two other systems out of 17 envisaged (12%), namely with the National Identification Authority (NIDA) and Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA). The research indicated that lack of interoperability between authorities’ systems complicated registration as it required manual verification of information (for instance, of the plot number and location details which could be verified automatically via information systems of the Ministry of Land) and often led to system failures

A reviewed e-GA Report of September, 2019 indicated that the integration between ORS and Intellectual Property Administration System (IPAS) which is used by Intellectual Property Section at BRELA. Furthermore, whilst the report showed that the ORS was inadequately designed for integration with other systems (as the Application Programming Interface (API) allowed accommodating only nine stakeholders), it also noted that integrating ORS with other information systems would have reduced time for verification of information required by other public entities

The e-Government Authority portal along with the Government of Tanzania website are both declared to be nation-wide one-stop shop platforms for accessing public e-services. They are neither integrated nor harmonised, some services are duplicated, which complicates service accessibility. Both portals provide links to external systems or institutions’ sites.

Source: e-Government Authority site

It is noteworthy that the e-Government Authority site offers public services of 5 types – G2G (government to government), G2C (government to citizens), G2B (government to business), G2S (government to students), and G2E (government to employees) with a total of more than 100 services available. Whilst the Government of Tanzania website categorises services by sectors (such as Agriculture, Health, etc.).

The performance monitoring metrics show that the website requires improvement in order to provide good user experience.

The EGA website’s First Contentful Paint (FCP) amounts to 3,8 seconds while the average length is 0.9s. The Speed Index stands at 6,6s, with a figure representing good user experience amounts to 1.3s or less. The Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) is 9,1s (good user experience — 1.2s). The main page’s Time to Interactive stands at 5,7s (good user experience — 2.5s).  Total Blocking Time (TBT) is 0ms (average — 150ms) which is an outstanding indicator. Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) takes 0.02 (good user experience — 0.1 or less).

The Government of Tanzania website’s FCP amounts to 4,1s. The Speed Index stands at 4,7s and the LCP is 5,6s. The main page’s Time to Interactive stands at 30,3s while TBT is 86ms and CLS takes 0.

The EGA is visited by 16,9 thousand visitors monthly – which is insignificant compared to the population of Tanzania exceeding 120 mln people. The Government of Tanzania website’s is visited by 15,5 thousand users montly.

Concerning the global ranking of governmental websites, the EGA portal is 37836^th, while Government of Tanzania website is 37152.

Accessibility

The EGA website’s main page has 33 errors, namely 18 linked images missing alternative text, 2 empty buttons with no text or value, and 1 empty button and 14 empty links. The front page also has 42 redundant links leading to the same URL. The website possesses 102 ARIA (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) attributes. The Government of Tanzania website’s main page has only 3 errors which are 1 empty heading and 2 empty buttons. The website has 149 ARIA attributes.

Apart from the nationwide e-Government Authority, in 2019 the Zanzibar e-Government Agency was established. The institution intends to facilitate access to public services for Zanzibar residents as well as to coordinate implementation of e-government initiatives and provide advisory and technological support to public institutions. There are also Zanzibar own platforms such as Zanzibar Government Portal. There is also a separate Zanzibar Mailing System. Moreover, Zanzibar has its own National Data Centre managed by the Zanzibar ICT Infrastructure Agency.

However, some services are delivered via centralised nationwide systems, and their links are available on the Zanzibar portal (like e-Immigration Portal and Visa Application System).

Source: Zanzibar Government Portal

One of the peculiarities of e-Government development in Tanzania is much attention placed on G2G (government to government) services and interoperability between institutions and departments. For instance, the Government Mailing System enables communication between organisations and is announced to be utilised by almost 600 public institutions. There is also a separate Zanzibar Mailing System. Still, many institutions gather information independently, their platforms are rarely integrated.

The Government Communications Network (GovNet) is a secure network that connects government agencies and authorities and provides a platform for communication and data sharing among these entities.The initiative was supported by the World Bank. The project includes services such as Government e-Payment Gateway (GePG), Birth and Death Registration System, Telemedicine, National e-Procurement System, and e-Office.

The Government e-Office System (GeOS) allows to manage mails and files, and provides secure movement of documents between public institutions and citizens. The system is available for about 400 public institutions.

Source: eGa

Enterprise Resources Management Suite (ERMS) aims to manage and automate an institution’s internal business processes, data processing and sharing across departments and sections of the institution. The system has 18 modules such as Planning, Project Management, Biling, Budgeting, Client Management, etc. Each module provides a specialised platform. For example, the Client Management platform allows for managing and organising client data. It enables users to add, edit, and update information related to their clients. Among the G2G services there is also the aforementioned Government Mailing System, Government Real Estate Management System, and other platforms.

As a part of the anti-corruption campaign the revenue collection systems were automated. In 2020, the eFiling System was introduced. The Taxpayer Portal allows for applying for Tax Identification Number (TIN), filing tax returns, paying taxes, etc. and uses National Identification Number or TIN for registration.

In January 2023, the Tanzania Revenue Authority announced that monthly tax collection in December reached a record $1.2 billion largely thanks to ICT facilitating tax payments. The VAT electronic filing system was upgraded in 2022.

Citizens have an option to report corruption cases through the Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB, TAKUKURU) website or application. Human Resource Management systems are to be implemented by 2026 with the aim to reduce corruption.

e-Mrejesho platform enables citizens to report complaints, send suggestions or requests to different institutions including sectoral ones, as well as to track their status. Apart from the web version, there is a mobile application developed by eGA.

Source: e-Mrejesho

Registration for the National Identification Number (Fahamu Namba ya NIDA, NIN) started in 2013. As of 2015, 6 million citizens registered for the biometric ID and almost 3 million had already received it. New biometric passports were introduced in January 2018. A number of platforms (such as the Taxpayer Portal) use National Identification Number (NIN) for registration, yet integrated identification has not been fully implemented.

In 2017, biometric registration of irregular immigrants in the Tanga region was implemented with the support from the International Organisation for Migration.

In December 2018, the development of the Biometric attendance system commenced with the ultimate goal of verifying citizens’ accounts on the Government recruitment portal using biometrics. Once employed, their NID can be used for tracking attendance. However, the system is yet to be fully implemented. In 2021, the President announced that the government was considering introducing e-voting to attract more voters.

In 2004, the development of the Education Management Information System (EMIS) was announced. It is designed to store and process data from educational institutions such as performance information (e.g. results of national and local examinations), financial information (e.g. expenditure reports), staff personal data (including qualifications, experiences), information on research, inspection results, etc.

The School Information System (SIS) keeps records on teachers and students performance, attendance and other information. However, it was created for teachers and non-teaching staff only, students cannot use the System and track their grades.There is no school digital pass system allowing parents to check the school passes and purchases.

Source: School Information System (User Manual)

Universities Information Management System (UIMS) is designed to manage and process data and information for all Tanzanian Universities. It monitors accredited universities, information about graduates, student enrollment, and staff.

G2S (government to students) e-services are represented but not limited to the Universities’ Learning Management Systems (OUT Learning Management System, University of Dar es Salaam Learning Management System, etc.), e-Libraries (IAA e-Library, University of Dar es Salaam Electronic Resources, Sokoine National Agricultural e-Library, etc.). However, they are not integrated, universities collect education data independently. There is also a Selform Platform which allows students to indicate their preferred colleges and schools.

Tanzania has been actively integrating ICT into its judicial system to enhance efficiency, transparency, and accessibility. Among the most well-established solutions is eWakili platform. Launched by the Judiciary of Tanzania, eWakili is an online platform designed to to help qualified legal professionals apply for petition for admission and become an advocate. eWakili Tanzania is used by the Judiciary of Tanzania to keep and manage all petitioners application and advocate renewals and other applications. Only Judicial staff and advocates with credentials are allowed to login into the system. eWakili also manages the database of lawyers in Tanzania which allows citizens citizens to publically know status and history of an advocate by searching name or roll number.

TanzLII, launched in 2018 with the support from non-governmental organizations, namely African Legal Information Institute and Laws.Africa, provides free online access to Tanzanian legal information, including statutes, regulations, Government Gazette issues and court decisions. It is operated by operated by the Judiciary of Tanzania and the Office of the Attorney General.

Besides, in October 2023, the Judiciary of Tanzania introduced an Electronic Case Management System (e-CMS) to digitize case records, facilitating efficient tracking, registration and management of cases online as well as assigning of cases for Judges and Magistrates which allows cases to be recorded directly in the system and stored electronically.

In 2015, the $94 million investment in constructing a government data centre was announced. Huawei Tanzania provided advisory support to the project which was completed in 2016. The data centre is managed by Tanzania Telecommunication Company Limited (TTCL). However, the project met some challenges, including lack of clients. In 2017, the Minister for Works, Transport and Communications directed public institutions to cancel their own data centre development initiatives and use the existing government data centre. There is also Zanzibar National Data Centre managed by the Zanzibar ICT Infrastructure Agency. Further development of the shared data centre infrastructure for public institutions is among the targets to achieve by 2026.

The National e-Procurement System of Tanzania, known as NeST, is an electronic platform developed by the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) to modernize and streamline public procurement processes. Launched in 2023, NeST facilitates various procurement activities, including user registration, tender notification, tender preparation and submission, online tender evaluation, contract awarding, creation and management of catalogue, creation and management of framework agreements and auctions and payments.

Homepage of the platform provides the real-time information on the number of tenders divided by categories, including the number of tenders opened on the given day. The platform also has a mobile app available for download.

In November 2024, NeSt won an award for “Best Public Procurement System in Africa” following a competition during the African Association for Public Administration and Management (AAPAM) meeting, in Kampala Uganda.

Source: Tanzania National e-Procurement System

Among the e-Government solutions to be mentioned are: the Tanzania Custom Integrated System, Electronic Tax Stamps for excisable goods, and Recruitment Portal (citizens can apply for a job, but there are only about 60 available job vacancies). There are also sector-specific e-services like Mining Cadastre Portal and Madini App which allows access to information on mineral markets, licences in Tanzania.

Many agencies collect information independently, and their platforms are rarely integrated. The Government Enterprise Service Bus (GovESB) is not yet fully implemented — over 175 agencies were connected to it as of October 2024. 

Segmentation and lack of coordination in digital government initiatives also impacted the launch of the National Data Center, as the project struggled to attract clients. 

A number of platforms (such as the Taxpayer Portal) use National Identification Number (NIN) for registration, yet individual registration is required for most of the systems. Platforms lack interactivity and are rarely citizen-oriented. For instance, the School Information System (SIS) is intended only for school staff. 

Both Swahili and English translations are available on most platforms, however they do not always function properly (for example, on the Service Portal of the National Health Insurance Fund6 the English translation is only available on a few pages). Some platforms such as e-Mrejesho are available in Swahili only. There are also noticeable bugs on some websites.

The use of artificial intelligence is being considered to improve the speed and reduce the cost of delivering public services. 

In 2021, the president announced that the government was exploring the possibility of introducing electronic voting to increase voter turnout. 

Fixing bugs in automatic translations and further expanding their availability can also allow to reach more citizens. 

Tanzania can share its experience in using mobile services for e-governance services, providing translations on websites, establishing regulatory frameworks and in the area of cybersecurity.