Tanzania’s $44 Travel Insurance: How Much Could the New Scheme Collect?

By Camptrek · First published 21 September 2026 · Updated 29 September 2026 · 11-minute read

Tanzania’s new inbound travel insurance framework comes with a simple price tag: $44 per eligible adult foreign visitor. But how much could that add up to?

Short answer: from 1 October 2026, Tanzania charges eligible adult foreign visitors US$44 for mandatory inbound travel insurance, US$22 for children aged 3–17, with infants free. This article models how large the resulting premium pool could be.

Using 2025 mainland visitor numbers, reported tourism data and several clearly stated assumptions, our model puts the potential annual premium pool at roughly $56–81 million, with a base case of about $67 million. That is our own estimate, not an official government revenue forecast.

There is also a second, quieter question. How is that premium pool administered, how much is paid out in claims and operating costs, and how are the scheme’s financial flows ultimately allocated? We look at both questions below, and then at what it all means if you are planning a safari.

Quick answer for travellers

• Starts: 1 October 2026, confirmed by the Ministry of Finance.
• Cost: US$44 per adult, US$22 per child aged 3–17, free for infants aged 0–2. Groups of 10 or more get 10% off the adult price. Priced in US dollars and payable as the Tanzanian shilling equivalent.
• Validity: up to 92 days, with multiple entries.
• Applies to: foreigners entering mainland Tanzania by air, land or sea.
• Exempt: residents of East African Community (EAC) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) partner states, among others. The law says residents, not citizens.
• Cover: emergency medical treatment, emergency medical evacuation or repatriation, and loss of luggage.
• Where to buy: online before travel at inbound.nicinsurance.co.tz, or at the point of entry, from the National Insurance Corporation (NIC).
• Own insurance: does not replace it. Travellers without the NIC policy may be denied entry.

What Tanzania’s law says

The requirement comes from the country’s own legislation. The Finance Act, 2025 (Part XIV, section 63) inserted a new section 134A into the Insurance Act. It says a foreigner entering Mainland Tanzania through land, seaport or airport shall, upon arrival, purchase an inbound travel insurance policy priced at the Tanzanian shilling equivalent of 44 US dollars.

The implementing rules, the Insurance (Inbound Travel Insurance) Regulations, 2026, were published in Government Notice No. 256 of 4 September 2026, according to Visasupdate.

When does enforcement start?

On 1 October 2026. When we first published on 21 September, no start date had been announced. On 25 September the Ministry of Finance issued a public notice, signed by the Permanent Secretary and Paymaster General, confirming that implementation begins on that date. Tanzanian embassies are now sharing it.

The notice also settles two questions that were open when we first wrote:

• Purchase: NIC’s online portal, inbound.nicinsurance.co.tz, is live. Policies can also be bought at the point of entry, but the Ministry advises buying before travel.
• Zanzibar: visitors buy from the insurer at their first point of entry: NIC for the mainland, ZIC for Zanzibar. That insurer then handles emergencies anywhere in the United Republic, subject to policy terms.

This follows a long run-up. The scheme was first floated for the 2025/26 financial year, and the Kenya Association of Travel Agents reported that implementation was delayed to January 2026 for consultation. The Daily News reported that NIC met the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority to coordinate implementation across airports, seaports and land borders.

How much could Tanzania collect?

Mainland Tanzania welcomed 2.29 million international visitors in 2025 and earned $4,410.6 million from tourism, according to TanzaniaInvest. Divide one by the other and you get roughly $1,926 in tourism earnings per international arrival. The $44 premium is about 2.3% of that figure. This is an economy-wide average, not what each individual traveller spends.

Two more numbers shape the calculation. Average spend per person per night on the mainland rose to $289 in 2025, from $243 in 2024. And because EAC and SADC residents are exempt, a large share of arrivals will not pay. In January–May 2025, Kenya, Burundi, Zambia and DRC accounted for 224,033 of 794,102 arrivals, or 28.2%. Those four are only part of the two blocs, so the true exempt share is likely higher; we model 25–35%.

Notes: the 7% growth in the optimistic case mirrors 2025’s rise in mainland arrivals, from 2.14 million to 2.29 million. Shilling values use about TSh 2,691 per dollar, implied by The Citizen’s March 2026 report that $44 equals Sh118,404; the real rate will vary. The law exempts residents of EAC and SADC states, while our arrivals data is by nationality, so the exempt share is an approximation. Zanzibar is excluded because it runs its own scheme. Applying the base case to 2026 arrivals at the same growth rate would lift it to about $72 million.

Update, 29 September: the model charges $44 for every paying visitor. Now that children aged 3–17 pay $22, infants are free and groups of 10+ get 10% off, actual premiums will be somewhat lower than modelled. How much lower depends on the share of children and large groups among arrivals, which is not published.

Zanzibar provides a reality check

Zanzibar has run a similar mandatory scheme since 1 October 2024, charging $44 per visitor and $22 for EAC members, so its real-world collections are the best test of our model. The reported figures do not tell one consistent story.

Take the middle row. Zanzibar received 654,880 international arrivals in 2025 according to TanzaniaInvest. Roughly eight months of that (October to early June), at $44 each, comes to about $19.2 million, close to the $20 million reported. So the arithmetic works when nearly everyone pays.

The other two rows point lower. At $1 million a month, Zanzibar would collect about $12 million a year, roughly 42% of its $28.8 million ceiling (654,880 × $44). And Sh41 billion by March 2026 is less than the Sh53.27 billion reported nine months earlier. We could not reconcile these figures, and we have not tried to force them into one clean dataset. Instead, we use Zanzibar’s weakest reading as the stress test for the mainland.

Officials in Zanzibar have also acknowledged compliance problems. In May 2025 the finance minister said, “Some people are still resistant, including government officials.”

The new first-point-of-entry rule may also shift money between the two schemes. A visitor who lands at Kilimanjaro and finishes in Zanzibar now buys NIC cover only, so some travellers who used to pay Zanzibar’s scheme will pay the mainland’s instead.

The money is not the same as revenue

A premium pool is not government revenue, and it is not profit. Insurers pay claims, cover operating costs and may share income with partners.

In Zanzibar’s first period, claims of $1.59 million were paid against $20 million collected, a payout of about 8%. If the mainland matched that, the base case would leave roughly $62 million after claims and before operating costs. We would expect a higher claims ratio on the mainland, because evacuations from remote parks and mountain treks cost more than a beach stay. That is our inference, not a reported figure.

Who administers and receives the money is also still being defined. The Ministry of Finance has designated NIC as the mainland provider, and no revenue projection has been published. NIC says on its website that it was founded in 1963 and nationalised in 1967, though it does not state its current shareholding. In Zanzibar, The Citizen reports the funds support health services in eleven hospitals and a new Zanzibar Health Services Fund. The more interesting questions for the mainland are how the pool will be administered, how much goes to claims and costs, and how the remainder is allocated.

The competitiveness question

The base-case premium pool equals about 1.5% of the mainland’s $4.41 billion in tourism earnings. Put differently, losing around 35,000 visitors, or 1.5% of arrivals at roughly $1,926 each, would offset that amount in visitor spending. This is a rough economy-wide comparison, since premiums and spending do not reach the same recipients.

Operators have raised the risk. In June 2025, Arusha tour operators warned the fee “could make Tanzania less competitive”, noted that many travellers already hold private cover, and asked for clear online purchase options to avoid delays at entry points. The online portal now answers that last request.

What it means for safari travellers

• Budget for it. Plan on US$44 per adult and US$22 per child aged 3–17 for a trip entering through the mainland. Infants under 3 are free.
• Buy online before you fly. Use inbound.nicinsurance.co.tz and keep the QR-code certificate on your phone and in print. Border checks may deny entry without valid cover.
• Know the residence rule. The exemption applies to residents of EAC and SADC states. As we read the wording, an international tourist who transits through Nairobi is not exempt, while a Kenya-resident traveller is.
• Combining a safari with Zanzibar? Buy from the insurer at your first point of entry: NIC if you land on the mainland, ZIC if you land in Zanzibar.
• Keep your own comprehensive insurance. Your own policy does not replace the government one, and the government one is basic emergency cover with limits set per policy. For trekking, remote camps and long overland routes, higher evacuation limits are worth having.

Our traveller guide has the full exemption list, the details you need to buy, and answers to common questions.

Kenya, mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar: three different systems

If your route crosses the region, you may meet three different rules.

Frequently asked questions

The bottom line

On 2025 numbers, our model puts potential annual premiums from mainland visitors at about $67 million, within a range of $56–81 million and with a stress-test floor near $42 million. The ceiling, if every visitor paid, is $100.8 million.

Three caveats matter. There is no official revenue forecast. The exempt share is our estimate from the arrivals mix, and the new children’s and group rates will pull actual premiums below our figures. And Zanzibar’s reported collections do not agree with each other, which is why our range is wide. The scheme starts on 1 October, so the number to watch now is compliance: if the mainland tracks Zanzibar’s best reading, $67 million is realistic; if it tracks the worst, expect closer to $42 million.

Sources

Sources 1–14 were opened and read on 21 September 2026; sources 15–18 were added on 29 September 2026. The calculations and estimates are our own.

1. The Finance Act, 2025 (No. 11), Tanzania Revenue Authority. Part XIV, section 63, inserting section 134A into the Insurance Act.
2. Tanzania mandatory travel insurance 2026: New regulations, coverage details & updates, Visasupdate.
3. Tanzania introduces $44 mandatory insurance for foreign visitors, Web Rwanda, September 2026.
4. Tanzania vs Kenya visitor insurance: What the Ksh5,700 and Ksh6.48M rules mean for travellers, People Daily.
5. Tanzania’s Mandatory KSh5,700 Travel Insurance: Who Pays, How Long It Lasts, And What It Covers, The Kenya Times.
6. NIC, TCAA to enforce mandatory inbound travel insurance, Daily News.
7. Tanzania rolls out mandatory travel insurance for foreign nationals, Kenya Association of Travel Agents.
8. Tanzania Tourism Earnings Reach USD 4.41 Billion in 2025, TanzaniaInvest.
9. Tanzania Tourist Arrivals Reach 794,102 in Jan–May 2025, TanzaniaInvest.
10. Zanzibar collects Sh16 billion from mandatory visitor insurance, The Citizen, 23 May 2025.
11. Zanzibar’s travel insurance collects $20 million, The Citizen, 8 June 2025.
12. Zanzibar collects $1m monthly from visitor mandatory travel insurance, The Citizen, 12 March 2026.
13. Tanzania Proposes Compulsory Travel Insurance for International Visitors, Travel And Tour World, 21 June 2025.
14. About NIC Tanzania, National Insurance Corporation.
15. Inbound Travel Insurance for Foreign Visitors Entering Mainland Tanzania, Ministry of Finance public notice, via the Embassy of Tanzania in Rome, 27 September 2026.
16. Mainland Tanzania: mandatory travel insurance applies from October 1, 2026, Visamundi, 28 September 2026.
17. Tanzania Confirms October 1 Launch of $44 Mandatory Travel Insurance, Visasupdate, 28 September 2026.
18. NIC Inbound Travel Insurance portal, National Insurance Corporation.

This article is general information, not legal or insurance advice. Rules may change; confirm current requirements with official Tanzanian sources or your insurer before you travel.