\n The blackout, which occurred just days before the country\u2019s general election, crippled productivity, trade, and digital services, while disrupting mobile payments and online healthcare systems.\n <\/p>\n
\n Analysts and civil rights groups have decried it as part of a growing pattern of election-season internet controls across parts of Africa.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cThis blatant defiance comes against calls by the Net Rights Coalition and the African Commission on Human and Peoples\u2019 Rights to refrain from shutting down the internet,\u201d PIN stated.\n <\/p>\n
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\n 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.\n <\/p>\n
\n Gbenga Sesan, Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative, emphasised the long-term consequences for both Tanzania and the continent.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cEvery shutdown chips away at trust, investment, and human potential. Governments must realise that in today\u2019s world, connectivity is the foundation of opportunity. Shutting down the internet silences citizens, stalls economies, and sets entire nations back,\u201d he said.\n <\/p>\n
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