Borrower guides
What to know before you take money from anybody: the real cost, the questions to ask, and how the frauds work.
Written by the Kopesha team · Last reviewed 23 September 2026 · No lender pays for these guides · How we write them
8 min read
What a loan really costs in Tanzania
Interest is only part of the price. Here is how to work out the total you will hand back — with the arithmetic done in shillings, the difference flat and reducing-balance interest makes, and the charges that never appear in the quoted rate.
8 min read
How to choose a lender you can trust
Four checks that rule out most of the trouble before it starts: the licence, a real office, written terms, and a total you can verify. What each one proves, and how to run it in an afternoon.
8 min read
Loan scams, and how they work
Almost every loan fraud in Tanzania is a version of the same trick: pay a small amount now to unlock a large amount later. Here is the shape of it, the newer variants, and what to do if you have already paid.
8 min read
How to be the borrower lenders say yes to
Lenders are asking one question: will this money come back? Here is what actually answers it in Tanzania — records, a bank or mobile-money history, a first small loan repaid, and a purpose that pays for itself.
8 min read
The kinds of loan you can get in Tanzania
Business, salary, group, asset, agricultural and mobile-money loans: who each one suits, what security it asks for, and the trap inside each.
7 min read
Nine questions to ask before you sign
Read them off your phone in the office. Any institution that deserves your business can answer all nine in a few minutes, and the answers are the loan.
8 min read
How to read a repayment schedule
The schedule is the loan: every installment, its date, and what is left afterwards. Here is what each column means, the three errors worth looking for, and what to do when a payment does not appear.
8 min read
Collateral: what it means, and what you can lose
Security turns a promise into a claim on a specific thing. What lenders in Tanzania usually take, what the process looks like if you default, and the questions that decide whether you should pledge at all.
8 min read
Your rights as a borrower, and where to complain
What you are entitled to ask for, what a lender may not do when collecting, and the order in which to complain so that somebody actually acts.
8 min read
VICOBA, SACCOS and microfinance: which is which
Three different things that all lend money in Tanzania, with different rules, different costs and different risks. What each one is, what it is good for, and what to check before you join or borrow.
8 min read
Mobile-money loans: what the fee really means
Instant phone loans are quoted as a small fee, not a rate. Here is how to convert the fee into a rate you can compare, when the loan is worth it, and how the rollover trap works.
8 min read
A budget that survives the repayment
Most loans go wrong in the third month, not the first. A simple way to test an installment against the money you really have — before you borrow, and every month after.
7 min read
How to check that a lender is licensed in Tanzania
The Bank of Tanzania publishes a register of licensed microfinance providers. Here is what a licence number looks like, how to check a name against the register, and what it does and does not prove.
8 min read
What happens if you miss a payment
Arrears are a process, not an event. What a lender normally does on day one, day thirty and day ninety, what it costs, and the one phone call that changes all of it.
8 min read
Comparing two loan offers, line by line
Two offers for the same million shillings, worked out in full — including the one that looks cheaper and is not. A method you can use on any pair of quotes.
8 min read
Getting out of debt you already have
If the installments no longer fit, borrowing again is the wrong move. A method that works: count it all, stop the bleeding, pick an order, and talk to the lenders before they talk to you.
8 min read
Buying a bajaji or motorcycle on credit
Asset finance is the most common large loan a Tanzanian trader takes. What the deal usually looks like, the numbers that decide whether it works, and the clauses to read twice.
7 min read
Borrowing for school fees or a medical bill
Some borrowing produces no income to repay it. That does not make it wrong — it makes it a different calculation. How to keep it small, short and survivable.
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