# The Restricted Activity Checker — Orientation Sheet

**Status:** Interactive v1 live (client-side) · 2026-09-04
**Cluster:** 11 · Who may do business  
**Last reviewed:** 2026-09-04  
**Instrument type:** Decision checklist (qualification sheet)

This sheet is published content. It is **not** a determination that your activity is open or closed. Mandate-holders decide. Zatra prepares and coordinates; this is not legal advice and names no advocate.

## Why this magnet exists

Before company formation, licensing or banking, write down four facts. Completing them qualifies the file for a scoped eligibility check.

## Qualification fields (fill before you contact the desk)

| Field | Your note |
|:---|:---|
| **Activity** (plain language — what the business will actually do day one) | |
| **Ownership** (who owns / controls, nationality mix, voting vs economic rights) | |
| **Jurisdiction** (Mainland Tanzania or Zanzibar — premises and legal person) | |
| **Stage** (forming, renewing a licence, restructuring, already trading) | |

## Orientation checks (self-serve)

1. **Name the activity class**, not the brand. "General trading" is not enough if the live work is retail, clearing, or a reserved tourism class.
2. **Separate incorporation from eligibility.** A BRELA or BPRA company creates identity. It does not, by itself, open a reserved activity to non-citizen control.
3. **Treat renewal as a re-test.** An existing licence for an activity now reported reserved does not automatically survive renewal on the same ownership story.
4. **Do not invent penalties or section numbers** from law-firm alerts. Confirm the live Order text and the licensing authority's current class list before you budget consequence.
5. **EAC-citizen treatment** under Mainland reserved-activity rules is a live dispute in public reporting — do not treat either side as settled on this sheet.
6. **Mainland ≠ Zanzibar** for business licensing and many sector overlays. Confirm where the premises and the legal person sit.

## What this sheet deliberately does not do

- Publish a fee table, penalty figure, or unverified enabling section number
- Issue an eligibility decision
- Replace the licensing authority or an advocate where one is required

## Related Insights (cluster 11)

- [Holding an Existing Licence for a Now-Restricted Activity: What Happens at Renewal](/post/business-licence-renewal-restricted-activity-foreigner-tanzania)
- [Clearing and Forwarding for Your Own Imports: The Restriction Importers Discover Late](/post/clearing-forwarding-restriction-foreign-company-tanzania)
- [Are EAC Citizens Treated Differently Under Tanzania's Business Restrictions?](/post/eac-citizens-tanzania-business-restrictions)
- [Does Registering a Tanzanian Company Make You a Local Owner?](/post/foreign-owned-company-not-local-owner-tanzania)
- [Which Businesses Foreigners Cannot Own in Tanzania: The Restricted List](/post/foreigners-cannot-own-business-tanzania-restricted-list)
- [Structuring Around Ownership Restrictions in Tanzania: What Works, What Does Not](/post/structuring-around-ownership-restrictions-tanzania)
- [Tourism Activities Reserved for Tanzanian Citizens](/post/tourism-activities-reserved-tanzanian-citizens)
- [Wholesale and Retail Trade in Tanzania: What Foreign Investors Can and Cannot Do](/post/wholesale-retail-trade-foreign-investors-tanzania)

## Next step

Book a **20-minute eligibility check**: [/contacts/?need=setup#contact](/contacts/?need=setup#contact)  
Commercial desk: [/services/business-licensing-tanzania/](/services/business-licensing-tanzania/)

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*Zatra Consultants · Orientation only · Verify on mandate-holder portals before filing · 2026-09-04*