EAC tasks BoT to educate bloc’s central banks on gold purchasing program

MWANZA: CENTRAL Bank officials from the East African Community (EAC) member states visited the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) Mwanza Branch to learn about the implementation of BoT’s gold purchasing and selling program.

The visit brought together Central Bank officials from Kenya, Uganda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, Somalia, and South Sudan.

It followed directives issued during the 28th Meeting of the EAC Monetary Affairs Committee (MAC) held in May 2025.

During that meeting, the Bank of Tanzania was tasked with building the capacity of other central banks in the region on how to implement the gold program, which Tanzania began executing in October 2024.

Speaking at the opening session of the visit, the Principal of the BoT Academy, Dr Nicas Yabu, said the gold purchasing program helps diversify sources of foreign exchange reserves and increase overall reserve levels.

He noted that at a time when the global economy is undergoing significant changes, it is important for countries to utilize available natural resources—particularly gold—to strengthen their foreign exchange reserves.

“In this era of global economic shifts, it is essential to use the natural resources available in our region, especially gold, to improve and diversify our sources of foreign exchange reserves while increasing the level of reserves we hold,” said Dr Yabu.

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He added that ongoing geopolitical tensions in various parts of the world have prompted many central banks to increase their gold reserves through purchases as a way of enhancing financial stability.

According to Dr Yabu, as of February 12, 2026, the Bank of Tanzania had purchased 19.38 tonnes of gold valued at 3.07bn US dollars since the program was launched.

During the visit, which took place from February 16 to 20, 2026, participants toured the Mwanza Precious Metals Refinery as well as a gold processing plant in Geita Region to observe gold processing and management operations firsthand.

The visit is expected to strengthen financial cooperation within the EAC region and support member states in improving the management of their foreign exchange reserves through the use of domestic resources.