Public tenders in Tanzania are published on official procurement portals, and the notices the portals carry differ widely in sector, buyer and deadline. This guide looks at the open tenders ScoutTide has collected as of 3 November 2026, where they come from, which sectors carry the most, who the busiest buyers are, and how much time bidders have. The counts change daily, so treat every figure here as a snapshot of that date rather than a fixed total.
Where public tenders are published
The open tenders ScoutTide has collected for Tanzania come from four official sources. The largest share by far sits on Tanzania NeST, which accounts for 793 of the 811 open tenders. The remaining notices come from international sources: UN Global Marketplace with 14, World Bank (global) with 3, and EU TED with 1.
That distribution matters for how you search. Most of what a supplier to Tanzanian public bodies will find is on the national portal, while the international sources carry a small number of notices that may suit companies already used to working with multilateral organisations. You can see the full set of sources on the official sources ScoutTide reads.
Each portal publishes its own registration requirements, and they differ from one portal to another. If you intend to bid, check the requirements directly on the portal where the notice appears before you spend time preparing a response.
ScoutTide collects open tenders from official portals, matches them against what a company sells, sends a daily list of new matches, and shows titles in English. It does not replace the portals themselves: the notice on the official site remains the document that counts.
What is in demand
Construction dominates the open tenders ScoutTide has collected for Tanzania. As of 3 November 2026, 459 of the 811 open tenders are construction notices. That is more than all other sectors combined, and it shapes what most of the demand in this set looks like.
The sectors with the most open tenders are:
- Construction: 459
- Hardware: 75
- Manufacturing: 32
- Energy and utilities: 31
- Facilities management: 18
- Engineering services: 13
- Transport and logistics: 7
- Education and training: 4
For companies that sell building materials, tools or fittings, the hardware category is the second largest in this set, with 75 open tenders. Manufacturing follows with 32, and energy and utilities with 31. The smaller categories, facilities management, engineering services, transport and logistics, and education and training, each carry fewer than twenty notices.
You can browse these groupings directly: Construction tenders in Tanzania, Hardware tenders in Tanzania, Manufacturing tenders in Tanzania, Energy and utilities tenders in Tanzania and Facilities management tenders in Tanzania. The full set across all sectors is on open tenders in Tanzania in all sectors.
One point about values. Of the 811 open tenders, 1 carries a stated value in the notice as ScoutTide reads it. That is too few stated values to give a typical contract value, so this guide does not offer one. Where a notice does not state a value, the notice as collected does not carry one, and you would need to read the source document on the portal for whatever detail it holds.
Who buys
The open tenders ScoutTide has collected come from 561 different buyers. That is a wide spread: most buyers appear with a small number of notices rather than many.
The busiest buyers, with the number of open tenders each, are:
- KAINAM DISPENSARY: 12
- MKINGA DISTRICT HOSPITAL: 10
- BUKAMA DISPENSARY: 6
- GELAI LUMBWA PRIMARY SCHOOL: 6
- SHUKULA PRIMARY SCHOOL: 6
- BUKENE PRIMARY SCHOOL: 5
- KATE HEALTH CENTER: 5
- LIWANGULA PRIMARY SCHOOL: 5
- MILINZI DISPENSARY: 5
- MWANGU PRIMARY SCHOOL: 5
The five busiest buyers together account for 40 open tenders, which is 5% of the total. The rest is spread across the remaining buyers, each with fewer notices.
Two patterns stand out in that list. First, health facilities appear repeatedly: dispensaries, a health centre and a district hospital. Second, primary schools make up a large part of the busiest names. Buyers of this kind tend to issue notices for works, supplies and small services tied to a single site, which is why construction and hardware feature so heavily in the sector counts above.
For a supplier, this spread has a practical consequence. Watching a handful of large buyers will not surface most of the open tenders in this set, because the five busiest together hold only 5% of them. The notices are distributed across hundreds of individual buyers, and a routine that relies on checking a short list of names will leave most of the set unseen.
Tanzania ranks 43 of 182 countries by open tenders in the set ScoutTide has collected.
Deadlines: how much time you get
The deadline picture is the most important part of this guide for anyone planning to bid.
Of the 811 open tenders, 787 close in under 7 days. Another 24 close in 7 to 29 days. None fall in the 30 to 59 day range, and none are 60 days or more away. The median time left until the deadline across the open tenders is 1 day.
The median gap between a notice first appearing and its deadline is 2 days. In other words, the typical notice in this set is published and closes within a very short window.
This changes how you work. A weekly review of portals is too slow for most of these notices: by the time a weekly check comes round, the median tender has already closed. The workable approach is a daily one. Check what is new each day, decide quickly whether it fits what you sell, and move on to the source notice for the details.
It also means preparation has to happen before a notice appears. If your company documents, product literature and references are ready in advance, a two-day window is workable. If they have to be assembled from scratch after you see a notice, it usually is not.
The 778 new tenders in the last 7 days, against 811 open now, show the same thing from another angle: the set turns over quickly, and what is open today is largely not what was open a week ago.
A practical routine for finding tenders
A routine that fits the deadline pattern above looks roughly like this.
- Check new notices every day, not every week. With a median of 1 day left to bid, a daily check is the minimum that keeps you inside the window.
- Start from the sector pages that match what you sell, rather than reading everything. Construction and hardware carry most of the volume, so suppliers in those areas have the most to review.
- Read the notice on the official portal before committing time. The portal is where the requirements, the scope and any stated value sit.
- Keep your standard material ready. With a median gap of 2 days between publication and deadline, assembling documents after the notice appears is usually too slow.
- Track buyers as well as sectors. With 561 buyers and the five busiest holding only 5% of open tenders, sector browsing will surface more than name watching.
- Note that most notices do not state a value. Of 811 open tenders, 1 carries a stated value, so plan to work without a published figure in almost every case.
ScoutTide fits into this by collecting open tenders from official portals, matching them against what a company sells, sending a daily list of new matches, and showing titles in English. That replaces the manual round of each portal with one daily list, which suits a set where the median notice closes in a day.
If you want tenders like these matched to what you sell, you can sign up to receive the daily list. Details of what each plan includes are on plans and pricing.
Frequently asked questions
How many open tenders are there in Tanzania?
ScoutTide has collected 811 open tenders in Tanzania as of 3 November 2026. The count changes daily.
Which portal carries most of them?
Tanzania NeST carries 793 of the 811 open tenders. UN Global Marketplace carries 14, World Bank (global) 3, and EU TED 1.
How much time do I have to bid?
Very little in most cases. Of the 811 open tenders, 787 close in under 7 days, and the median time left until the deadline is 1 day. The median gap between a notice first appearing and its deadline is 2 days.
Which sectors have the most open tenders?
Construction has the most, with 459 open tenders. Hardware follows with 75, then manufacturing with 32 and energy and utilities with 31.
Do the notices state a contract value?
Almost none do. Of the 811 open tenders, 1 carries a stated value in the notice as ScoutTide reads it, which is too few to give a typical contract value.