Dar es Salaam. Tanzanians living abroad have been urged to prioritise due diligence and formal legal procedures over personal relationships when investing in property back home, amid growing concerns over fraudulent land and property transactions that have cost some investors their life savings.
Real estate professional and author of The Tanzanian Diaspora Property Handbook, Emil Sylvester Mdinda, says diaspora investors are particularly vulnerable to property fraud because they often rely on relatives, friends or agents to complete transactions while they remain overseas.
"Trust the process before you trust the person," Mr Mdinda says in an interview, urging investors to conduct official land searches, insist on legally binding contracts and use secure payment arrangements before releasing funds.
Mr Mdinda who is a graduate from Ardhi University in Property and Facilities Management, manages institutional property portfolios worth millions of shillings.
He shares one case that remains vivid in his memory, involving a Tanzanian living abroad who purchased a plot through instalment payments and completed them ahead of schedule, only to discover that the promised title deed never materialised.
The dispute eventually reached court, where it emerged that the seller had allegedly sold the same property to multiple buyers.
"What haunts me is how ordinary it is—the same land sold again and again," he says.
According to Mr Mdinda, the impact of such fraud extends beyond financial loss. Many Tanzanians abroad, he says, spend years working long hours, including night shifts, to save enough to invest in their homeland.
"When that money is lost, people begin to feel their own country has betrayed them, and a little of their patriotism dies with it," he says.
He warns that foreign investors are also susceptible to similar schemes, including in Zanzibar's popular investment destinations such as Paje, Nungwi and Matemwe.
"The trap is not a place or a people; it is trusting a friendly face instead of a documented process," he says.
His experience living in the United States and Canada also reshaped his understanding of the Tanzanian diaspora.
"The diaspora is not one group," he says. "It includes diplomats, professionals, caregivers and many others, each with different investment goals, financial capacity and attitudes towards risk."
Mr Mdinda believes the diaspora's contribution to Tanzania's economy is substantial but often overlooked.
While Tanzania welcomed about five million international visitors in 2024, generating roughly $4 billion, Tanzanians living abroad remitted an estimated $1.27 billion during the 2024/25 financial year, much of which was channelled into property investment, he says.
"When a portion of that money is lost to fraud, it is not only one family's loss; it is money taken out of the national economy," he says. His book aims to equip diaspora investors with practical knowledge before they commit their money.
He advises prospective buyers to resist pressure from agents or sellers demanding immediate deposits and instead verify ownership documents and transaction records before making decisions.
"When someone insists you must pay today, that is often the moment to pause rather than proceed," he says.
Mr Mdinda also advocates professionally managed collective property investment schemes, arguing that pooling resources could reduce individual risk while improving transparency through documented ownership, escrow arrangements, audited accounts and proper regulatory oversight.
He believes strengthening professional standards across the real estate sector would also benefit young practitioners and provide diaspora investors with consistent service regardless of where they choose to invest in Tanzania.
Mr Mdinda welcomes government efforts to regulate the real estate industry and the proposed Tanzanite Card, saying the initiatives could improve accountability while providing Tanzanians abroad with a clearer legal framework for owning property in the country.
He also stresses that successful property ownership extends beyond acquisition.
"Buying property may take a day, but managing it well determines its value for decades," he says.
Ultimately, he hopes more Tanzanians living abroad will invest with confidence by following proper procedures rather than relying solely on personal trust.
"When you come home, do not send only money," he says. "Bring back the standards and systems you learnt while living abroad.
"Shelter is dignity, and property is opportunity."
