This archive report was first published on 29 August 2019.
On August 29, 2019, Tanzania's National Bank of Commerce Ltd was fined Tsh1 billion ($435,000) for failing to establish a data centre in the country.
The Bank of Tanzania imposed the fine, the second in two months, for breaching regulatory rules on data and service availability.
The central bank had directed banks and financial institutions in 2014 to establish primary or secondary data centers in the country, warning of hefty fines for non-compliance.
The country's financial services sector has been hit by a spike in bad loans, which have stifled the growth of credit to the private sector.
According to the Bank of Tanzania, the rules were aimed at ensuring banks' operations when they are cut off from accessing data centres of parent companies located outside Tanzania.
‘The Bank of Tanzania has imposed a penalty charge of one billion shillings to National Bank of Commerce Limited (NBC) for failure to implement directives to establish either a primary or secondary data centre in the country,’ the central bank said in a statement.
‘In addition to the penalty explained above, an additional charge of 10 percent of the penalty amount will be imposed to NBC for every month in which the non-compliance continues,’ it added.
