{"id":46773,"date":"2026-09-29T09:18:51","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T07:18:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/?post_type=news&#038;p=46773"},"modified":"2026-10-12T12:45:47","modified_gmt":"2026-10-12T10:45:47","slug":"tanzania-makes-travel-insurance-compulsory-for-foreign-visitors","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/news\/tanzania-makes-travel-insurance-compulsory-for-foreign-visitors\/","title":{"rendered":"Tanzania makes travel insurance compulsory for foreign visitors"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Foreign visitors to mainland Tanzania will need compulsory travel insurance from October 1, 2026 under new regulations issued by the Ministry of Finance.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">The move follows a similar scheme in the semi-autonomous Islands of Zanzibar and comes weeks after Kenya adopted its own insurance requirement for foreign visitors.<\/p>\n<p>The new rule applies to foreign nationals arriving on the mainland by air, land or sea.<br \/>\nTheir travel cover must be issued by Tanzania&#8217;s state-owned insurer, the National Insurance Corporation (NIC).<\/p>\n<p>When the plan was unveiled in last year&#8217;s budget, the government said it was modelled on Zanzibar&#8217;s scheme and aimed to protect foreign travellers while strengthening the country&#8217;s health and tourism infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>The policy costs $44, payable in Tanzanian Shillings, and is valid for up to 92 days, including multiple entries within that period.<\/p>\n<p>It covers medical emergencies, emergency evacuation, repatriation and lost luggage, subject to the policy&#8217;s terms and conditions.<\/p>\n<p>According to\u00a0NIC, residents of East African Community and Southern African Development Community member states are exempt.<\/p>\n<p>Visitors arriving through the islands of Zanzibar fall under a separate scheme, run by the Zanzibar Insurance Corporation.<\/p>\n<p>The Ministry of Finance is urging travellers to buy the cover before they arrive, saying it will make entry procedures smoother and help avoid delays.<\/p>\n<p>The requirement comes as inbound tourism continues to grow.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Government figures show more than 2.2 million international tourists arrived last year, up from just over 2.1 million in 2024.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">Insurers see a sizeable new market, worth up to $100 million a year.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\">That&#8217;s about 17% of the industry&#8217;s 2024 premiums, according to the Tanzania Insurance Regulatory Authority.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p class=\"x_MsoNormal\"><span data-olk-copy-source=\"MessageBody\">&#8211;SABC&#8211;<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":20731,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[26],"class_list":["post-46773","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-general_news","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"","published_date":"","news_description":"Foreign visitors to mainland Tanzania will need compulsory travel insurance","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/46773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/46773\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46774,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/46773\/revisions\/46774"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20731"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=46773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}