The blackout, which occurred just days before the country’s general election, crippled productivity, trade, and digital services, while disrupting mobile payments and online healthcare systems.
Analysts and civil rights groups have decried it as part of a growing pattern of election-season internet controls across parts of Africa.
“This blatant defiance comes against calls by the Net Rights Coalition and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights to refrain from shutting down the internet,” PIN stated.
The report also noted that X (formerly Twitter) has been suspended in Tanzania since 21 May 2025, a move that has already cost the economy an additional $165.8 million (TSh390 billion), averaging nearly $1 million in losses per day.
Gbenga Sesan, Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative, emphasised the long-term consequences for both Tanzania and the continent.
“Every shutdown chips away at trust, investment, and human potential. Governments must realise that in today’s world, connectivity is the foundation of opportunity. Shutting down the internet silences citizens, stalls economies, and sets entire nations back,” he said.
The NetBlocks COST model, which integrates data from the World Bank, ITU, and Eurostat, has been globally recognised for providing evidence-based assessments of economic harm from shutdowns, findings used by the United Nations and other international bodies.
Across Africa, similar blackouts in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Uganda have triggered growing debate about the continent’s digital future.
As Tanzania’s case shows, the price of silencing the internet may extend far beyond lost revenue; it risks undermining the very foundation of Africa’s digital and democratic aspirations.
