(Mike Maharrey, Money Metals News Service) You can add Tanzania to the list of countries expanding their gold reserves.
According to a statement by Bank of Tanzania Governor Emmanuel Tutuba, the country has increased its gold holdings by 28 tonnes over the last 18 months. The newly acquired gold is valued at about $3.68 billion at the current price.
Tanzania currently holds around $6 billion in reserves, equal to around 4.3 months of imports.
Tanzania is one of several African countries buying gold from domestic sources. Under regulations imposed in June 2025, large-scale gold miners operating in Tanzania must sell at least 20 percent of their production locally, and exporters are required to sell 20 percent to the central bank.
According to Business Insider Africa, “The strategy has allowed Tanzania to increase its domestic mining sector while decreasing its reliance on international markets to create reserve assets.”
The country ranks as Africa’s third-largest gold producer, and accounts for about 1.3 percent of the annual global gold production.
Tanzania has also sought to reduce its dependence on the U.S. dollar. A directive issued in the summer of 2025 mandates that all transactions in the country must be advertised and conducted in Tanzanian shillings. The policy took effect on July 1.
Tutuba said the domestic gold-buying program has positive economic impacts that go beyond bolstering the country’s reserves, noting that mineral traders and small-scale miners have opened more than 4,000 new bank accounts at Zambian financial institutions.
The Tanzanian government doesn’t plan to just sit on its gold. In January, President Samia Suluhu Hassan directed the Tanzanian central bank to liquidate a portion of its gold reserves.
According to an analysis by the Tanzania Investment and Consultant Group (TICGL), liquidating 15 to 50 percent of the country’s gold reserves could unlock $260 to $650 million in immediate liquidity.
Central Banks Gobbling Up Gold
The growing role of gold in Tanzania’s reserve strategy reflects a global trend. According to a survey by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum (OMFIF), gold “has moved to the center of reserve management strategy.”
This is evidenced by the fact that central banks have been expanding gold holdings at a rapid pace for the last several years.
Last year was the fourth-largest expansion of central bank gold reserves on record, at 863 tonnes. That was down 21 percent year-on-year, but still well above the 2010-2021 annual average of 473 tonnes.
The all-time high was set in 2022 (1,136 tonnes). It was the highest level of net purchases on record, dating back to 1950, including since the suspension of dollar convertibility into gold in 1971.
Last month, the European Central Bank confirmed that gold had overtaken U.S. Treasuries as the world’s top reserve asset.
According to an OMFIF report, this shift toward gold has been “driven by protection against geopolitical risk and growing doubts about the stability of the international monetary system.”
OMFIF head of research Andrea Correa said she thinks this trend will continue into the foreseeable future.
“Gold is not moving anywhere. Reserve managers of the central banks are still very bullish on gold. Despite the fact that the gold value itself keeps rising, they are still demanding it.”
According to the World Gold Council’s 2026 Central Bank Gold Reserves Survey, a record 45 percent of the 76 respondents indicated they expected their gold holdings to increase over the next year. Only 1 percent of the central bankers surveyed anticipate a decline in gold reserves over the next year.
Correa said gold is the one asset that everybody perceives as “safe” in the midst of increasing geopolitical shocks and growing uncertainty. Protection against geopolitical risk was cited by 51 percent of reserve managers as a reason to own gold, up 11 percentage points from 2024.
“That is not going to change in the short term,” Correa said.
Mike Maharrey is a journalist and market analyst for Money Metals with over a decade of experience in precious metals. He holds a BS in accounting from the University of Kentucky and a BA in journalism from the University of South Florida.
