Florens Luoga, the governor of the Bank of Tanzania, tells The Banker about initiatives to arrest NPLs.

Poor lending policies and over-exposure to a faltering real estate sector have seen Tanzania's banks experience an uncomfortable past few years. However, they have since managed to correct this situation.

A robust economy, booming population and favourable geographic location are putting Tanzania on investors' radars. But how friendly is it to foreign investors? 

The development of mobile financial services in Tanzania is bringing the high number of unbanked residents into the financial system. 

Regional integration, a painstakingly slow process across most of Africa, has started to gain momentum in east Africa, removing some obstacles for investors.

Tanzania's recent discovery of huge natural gas fields has put it firmly in the sight of foreign investors. But Benno Ndulu, its central bank governor, warns that the east African country should not become reliant on hydrocarbons. Instead, it should use them to diversify its economy.

Despite a recent surge in inflation and exchange rate volatility, the prospects for Tanzanian banks are bright. With the country growing fast, banks are looking to exploit its large unbanked population and start offering more sophisticated products.