The retail Forex trading sector in Tanzania continues to grow, especially the mobile trading segment, which is how most Tanzanians prefer to manage trading.
It makes strategies like copy trading and account management services very popular. Our in-depth Forex Brokers in Tanzania review uncovers the most competitive brokers offering access to the small but rapidly growing Forex market in Tanzania. Beginner traders can use this as a shortlist and guide for choosing the best Forex broker.
Best Tanzania Brokers Comparison
| | | | | |
Regulators | CMA, FCA, FSC Mauritius, FSCA | ASIC, CMA, CySEC, FSCA | ASIC, BVI, Central Bank of Ireland, FFAJ, FSCA, KNF, MiFID | FMA, FSA | ASIC, CySEC, FCA, SCB |
Year Established | 2011 | 2005 | 2006 | 2014 | 2009 |
Execution Type(s) | ECN/STP, Market Maker | ECN/STP | Market Maker | ECN/STP, No Dealing Desk | ECN/STP, Market Maker |
Minimum Deposit | |||||
Average Trading Cost EUR/USD | 0.1 pips | 1.2 pips | 0.9 pips | 1.3 pips | 1.0 pips |
Average Trading Cost GBP/USD | 0.2 pips | 1.4 pips | 1.5 pips | 2.0 pips | 1.2 pips |
Average Trading Cost Gold | $0.18 | $0.16 | $0.29 | $0.90 | $0.12 |
Trading Platform(s) | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, Proprietary platform | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, Proprietary platform, Web-based | Other, MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, Proprietary platform, Web-based+ | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, cTrader, Trading View | MetaTrader 4, MetaTrader 5, Trading View |
Islamic Account | |||||
Negative Balance Protection | N/A | ||||
| Visit Website | Visit Website | Visit Website | Visit Website | Visit Website |
FXTM
In Summary Best all-around broker with high floating leverage and fast executionFXTM supports deposits and withdrawals using the Tanzanian Shilling, making it one of the leading Forex Brokers in Tanzania. Tanzanian Forex traders should consider the Advantage account. While the minimum deposit is $500, it provides ultra-low trading costs with raw spreads from 0.0 pips for a commission ticket fee of between $0.80 and $4.00 per 1.0 lot.
FXTM offers its FXTM Pivot Points Trading Strategy as an MT4 plugin, actionable trading signals, and high-quality education for beginners. Active traders benefit from an average execution time of 0.072 seconds resulting in an average price improvement of 0.29 pips or $2.90 per lot.
Pros & Cons
- Excellent commission-based Forex pricing environment and transparency
- Upgraded MT4/MT5 trading platforms plus proprietary mobile trading app
- Quality market research and educational content for beginner traders
- A highly regulated broker with a tier-1 license
- Limited choice of commodities
FP Markets
In Summary ECN trading with leverage up to 1:500FP Markets is amongst the leading Forex Brokers in Tanzania with its proprietary FP Markets Copy Trading solution, Myfxbook Autotrade, and embedded MT4/MT5 copy trading services. It offers financial transactions in the Tanzanian Shilling and cryptocurrencies for frictionless financial transactions. It also features MAM/PAMM accounts for account management services, while its competitive commission-based pricing environment offers spreads from 0.0 pips for a commission of $6.00 per round lot.
A twelve-plugin upgrade package and Autochartist ensures manual MT4/MT5 traders have an edge, and algorithmic traders can get VPS hosting for low-latency 24/5 market access. NDD (no dealing desk) order processing, no requotes, high leverage, and deep liquidity provide a cutting-edge trading environment. Beginner traders receive quality research, including actionable trading signals and educational material.
Pros & Cons
- Choice of trading platforms and auxiliary trading tools
- Very competitive cost structure and excellent asset selection
- Low minimum deposit requirement and leverage of up to 1:500
- Well-regulated and trustworthy
- Availability of Iress geographically restricted
AvaTrade
In Summary Highly regulated, choice of fixed or floating spreadsWith its proprietary Ava Social system, alongside embedded MT4/MT5 services, ZuluTrade, and DupliTrade, AvaTrade ranks among the leading Forex Brokers in Tanzania. It maintains a reasonably priced spread based cost structure. For Tanzanian Forex traders seeking passive income opportunities, AvaTrade has its excellent partnership program servicing 70,000+ partners from 150+ counties and has made 250M+ commission payouts. Beginners will benefit from its spun-out SharpTrader Academy, a leading educational platform.
AvaTrade upgrades the core MT4/MT5 trading platforms with the Trading Central plugin. The MT4 Guardian Angel plugin provides an additional layer of protection and analysis by sending custom alerts and assisting with risk management and post-trade analysis. Traders may also use the proprietary web based AvaTrade WebTrader, AvaOptions, and mobile app AvaTradeGO.
Pros & Cons
- High quality educational offering via AvaAcademy
- Excellent choice of trading platforms catering to various trading needs
- Broad asset selection and cross-asset diversification opportunities
- Well-regulated and trusted broker with oversight from a central bank
- Trading costs competitive but nothing special
BlackBull Markets
In Summary Best ECN trading environment, with scalping and hedgingThe superb trading infrastructure at BlackBull Markets positions it as one of the most advanced Forex Brokers in Tanzania. The broker allows FIX API trading, which supports third-party connections to the deep liquidity available at BlackBull Markets. It is ideal for algorithmic traders, scalpers, and high-frequency strategies. VPS hosting is also available, but traders must commit $2,000 for the ECN Prime account, which includes competitive spreads and commission-based trading fees. Alternatively, the ECN Standard account has no minimum deposit requirements and reasonable spreads on this commission-free option.
Cryptocurrency funding allow Tanzanians to conduct hassle-free transactions, while copy traders can use BlackBull Social, ZuluTrade, Myfxbook Autotrade, and embedded MT4/MT5 services. BlackBull Markets upgrades the MT4/MT5 trading platforms with the Autochartist plugin and connects traders to the TradingView community with 30M+ traders.
Pros & Cons
- ECN/NDD execution model with deep liquidity
- Institution-grade pricing for retail traders via proprietary price aggregation
- ZuluTrade and Myfxbook for social trading
- Leverage of up to 1:500
- Limited deposit options
Eightcap
In Summary Competitive pricing + excellent daily videosEightcap belongs in the list of Forex Brokers in Tanzania with unique trading tools offered to its clients. Traders can use Capitalise AI, which enables the automation of strategies in a code-free environment. The Amazing Trader plugin for the MT4/MT5 trading platforms offers an essential upgrade for manual traders. Cryptocrusher is a dedicated cryptocurrency solution, complementing the 250+ cryptocurrency CFDs on offer. It makes Eightcap a leading broker in this sector.
Licensed account managers can get the MAM/PAMM module, and Eightcap connects to the TradingView community with 30M+ members. It supports algorithmic trading via VPS hosting, deep liquidity, high leverage, and excellent order execution statistics. The commission-based pricing environment features spreads as low as 0.0 pips for a ticket fee of $7.00 per round lot. A high-paying partnership program also exists.
Pros & Cons
- Low minimum deposit and high leverage of up to 1:500
- Competitive cost structure
- Excellent technology infrastructure and seasoned management team
- Daily research and quality educational content
- Limited leverage in some areas
- FXTM, Best all-around broker with high floating leverage and fast execution.
- FP Markets, ECN trading with leverage up to 1:500.
- AvaTrade, Highly regulated, choice of fixed or floating spreads.
- BlackBull Markets, Best ECN trading environment, with scalping and hedging.
- Eightcap, Competitive pricing + excellent daily videos.
Intro to Forex Trading in Tanzania
Forex trading in Tanzania remains relatively small, but the growth rate is big driven by the young tech-savvy crowd seeking to improve their wealth, its attractive enough therefore for international Forex brokers to establish a footprint in the Country. Some brokers offer the Tanzanian Shilling as a deposit and withdrawal currency, a statement of the importance of Tanzania across Africa. There are no domestic Forex Brokers in Tanzania, where banks and exchange offices handle the bulk of physical Forex transactions. International online brokers serve the growing retail margin trading sector, as there are no restrictions on Tanzanians wishing to trade offshore.
Tourism is a core economic driver, as it employs 11% of the labor force making Forex transactions part of daily life for many Tanzanians. The average salary is less than $200 per month, internet penetration is only 25%, but mobile usage exceeds 86% in the population and has been growing quickly. It suggests a tremendous further growth potential for mobile Forex trading when the network infrastructure improvements are delivered.
Forex Regulations in Tanzania
The Bank of Tanzania is the regulator of the financial system, including the Forex market. The Foreign Exchange Regulations 2022, (or FX Regulations 2022) came into force in May 2022. They govern all physical delivery Forex-related transactions but do not cover derivatives traded by online traders in the over-the-counter market. There are no online Forex Brokers based in Tanzania, and the country does not currently plan to regulate the sector.
The retail Forex sector is seeing rapid growth, and its possible in the future Tanzania could follow South Africa and Kenya with a regulatory push. While the size of the Tanzanian Forex market is comparatively small, the Bank of Tanzania will likely be the body to introduce a light oversight of the space as more Tanzanians take up trading Forex. Until then, Tanzanian Forex traders can and should rely on well-regulated international brokers with clean operational track records, like the ones outlined in our best Forex Brokers in Tanzania review. Please note that Tanzanians cannot open or maintain foreign bank accounts unless approved by the governor of the Bank of Tanzania but are allowed to receive foreign third-party payments.
Getting Started with Forex in Tanzania
Before opening and funding a live trading account with one of the competitive Forex Brokers in Tanzania listed in our comprehensive review, traders should consider the important following steps
Considering the below steps will help beginners to minimize avoidable mistakes:
1. Forex trading is a high-skilled profession and requires in-depth education, which is available for free, but unfortunately many ignore it. It also applies to traders who seek managed accounts or copy trading too, as education will allow them to better evaluate their offerings and recognize potential scams and frauds
2. Our Forex Brokers in Tanzania review outlined the leading Forex brokers, ensuring that Tanzanian Forex traders have a competitive edge and a trustworthy broker with whom they can be confident will treat them fairly.
3. Successful traders should define and follow a suitable strategy considering their circumstances. They should also ensure they use appropriate risk management, set realistic expectations, and have annual goals. Education will assist traders in all aspects, making it a core foundational principle of successful Forex trading.
4. Trading psychology and the importance of leverage and its relationship to risk management are essential to the success of Forex traders. While losing money is part of the educational process, beginners must learn from their mistakes, and they should view losses as the price of their education.
5. Market events can move price action. Therefore, profitable traders must follow them and analyze price action. It will help in spotting potential trading opportunities and determining how to manage downside risk. Trusting third-party signal providers without conducting due diligence is not recommended. The same applies to copy trading and managed accounts, where traders must consider the strategies used and does it fit with their tolerance to risk.
Traders must understand the importance of take profit and stop loss orders. Successful traders determine these levels and use these tools with each trade entry setup, and ideally do not adjust them as the trade unfolds. It’s important to take emotions out of the equation in this regard.
How to Choose a Forex Broker in Tanzania
Our 12-point checklist below is how we determined the most competitive Forex Brokers in Tanzania, and traders may follow it to find the best one for their trading requirements.
Tanzanian Forex traders should ensure their Forex brokers offer the following:
- Regulation – Regulated brokers should have segregation of client deposits and negative balance protection to cover client deposits. A clean track record of more than ten years reduces the risk of scams and fraud.
- Local-currency accounts - Some brokers offer the Tanzanian Shilling as a deposit and withdrawal currency. None however feature it as an account base currency, making the US Dollar the most suitable choice.
- Local payment methods - Tanzanian Forex traders benefit from low-cost, fast, and secure online payment processors and cryptocurrencies, some brokers support Tanzanian Shilling transactions.
- Spread sizes - Major currency pairs should not trade with spreads above 0.1 pips in a commission-based account and 0.7 pips in a spread based account setup during the most liquid trading periods.
- Fees - Forex brokers with competitive commissions cap them at $6.00 per 1.0 standard lot, while the most active traders can push for lower fees via volume-based rebate programs.
- Products - A broker offering 60+ currency pairs provide good market coverage and ensures traders can further diversify their portfolios and use different strategies.
- Asset diversity - Cross-asset diversification for most Forex traders is useful and most brokers offer CFDs on commodities, indices, and cryptocurrencies
- Customer service in native language - Tanzania lists English as an official language. Therefore, customer service in a native language is not an issue.
- Account type diversity - Commission-free spread accounts and commission-based accounts, plus sub-account options, are widely available. Some brokers offer specific account types for investors, copy traders, or managed account services.
- Demo account - Algorithmic traders can benefit from unlimited demo accounts for testing via API or using EA’s experienced traders can also use these to test new strategies and evaluate the broker, copy traders can evaluate signal providers, and beginners to test trading skills without taking financial risk.
- Mobile trading – Tanzania like many African Countries relies heavily on mobile trading access, and all brokers offering MT4/MT5 provide a mobile app. Some brokers have developed high-quality proprietary alternatives.
- Deposits/Withdrawals - Traders generally pay no fees on deposits, while withdrawals typically incur costs, especially if using third-party payment processors.
The Pros & Cons of Forex Trading in Tanzania
Before Tanzanian Forex traders decide to open an account with one of the leading Forex Brokers in Tanzania, they must consider the pros and cons of Forex trading in Tanzania.
The pros of Forex trading in Tanzania include:
- Forex trading has lower capital requirements than other asset classes
- Forex trading remains decentralized, and Forex traders can transact 24/5
- Algorithmic and copy trading offer traders a variety of ways to profit from Forex trading
- Account management services and mobile trading are available
- Traders can opt for passive income opportunities as affiliates without trading Forex themselves
- Low-cost deposit and withdrawal methods, including cryptocurrencies mean trading is accessible to all
The cons of Forex trading in Tanzania include:
- A fundamental misunderstanding of Forex trading, its requirements, and possibilities can cause frustration for new traders and is normally due to a lack of quality education
- The lack of sufficient trading capital mixed with unrealistic trading expectations can lead to overtrading, using too much leverage and being overconfident
- Beginners who rely solely on demo accounts, may not get the important exposure to trading psychology as an educational tool, which could create a false sense of accomplishment and misunderstanding of risk
- Widespread promotions of unrealistic trading services and strategies by questionable Forex brokers and affiliates is a risk to be aware of
- Having a poor trading mentality stemming from disrespect of Forex trading as a high-skilled profession
- Using a trading strategy unsuitable for your risk tolerance and personality
- Leveraged trading losses due to poor position sizing relative to account size
- Sub-standard trading conditions, including inadequate hardware, no quiet place to trade, or using only mobile apps for Forex trading
- Lack of education results in beginners being potential victims to scams and fraud
Bottom Line
The size of the Tanzanian retail Forex market is small, but its growing fast, making it an attractive destination for international Forex brokers. While internet usage remains low, mobile penetration is above 86%, making Tanzania ideal for copy trading or managed account services, which require portfolio management skills rather than trade analysis and placement.
Many Tanzanians are familiar with physical Forex transactions, given their reliance on tourism and international trade, but the retail Forex trading segment is in its early stages hence there are no domestic online Forex Brokers in Tanzania, and the Bank of Tanzania does not actively regulate retail margin Forex trading for speculation.
Like most emerging and frontier Forex markets, Tanzania faces headwinds from a lack of trader education, inadequate infrastructure, limited capital, and often clients with unrealistic expectations. It paves the way for scams and frauds, which reputable Forex brokers and regulators can counter by ensuring beginners understand the products they are trading and the importance of education.
You might also be interested in reviewing the below top brokers:
