Free business email in Tanzania: set up name@yourbusiness.co.tz

Whether you run a Zanzibar tour company, a Dar es Salaam import business or a consultancy in Arusha, the address on your quotation is the first thing a foreign client or a corporate buyer judges. A .co.tz domain and a free mail host give you bookings@yourbusiness.co.tz for the cost of the domain, with no international card involved.

Quick answer

Register yourbusiness.co.tz through a tzNIC-accredited registrar, create a free OquMail workspace, add the domain, paste four DNS records, create your mailboxes. The email hosting is free with no card, which matters in Tanzania where paying a monthly dollar subscription with a local card is often impossible.

Domain options in Tanzania

Tanzania's country code .tz is administered by tzNIC, and businesses register under .co.tz, with .or.tz for organisations and .ac.tz for schools. You register through tzNIC-accredited registrars, most of which are Tanzanian hosting companies, and payment by M-Pesa, Tigo Pesa or Airtel Money is common. There is no residency requirement for .co.tz. Many tourism businesses also hold a .com because it is easier for overseas visitors to remember.

• .co.tz: the recognised Tanzanian business ending; open to locals and foreigners; registered via tzNIC-accredited registrars
• .or.tz: NGOs and associations
• .com: good for safari and Zanzibar hotels whose customers are abroad; register it as a second domain in the same workspace
• Confirm the registrar gives you a DNS panel; some smaller ones only edit records on request

Why a domain address matters to Tanzanian buyers

Most small businesses here operate through WhatsApp, Instagram and mobile money, with a personal Gmail for anything formal. That collapses the first time a tour agent in Germany, a mining supplier in Mwanza or a bank asks for a company email. Safari and Zanzibar operators in particular lose bookings when their quote comes from a Gmail address, because travellers have been warned about fake operators. A domain address also keeps bookings@ with the business when a guide or agent leaves.

Step by step

1. Register yourbusiness.co.tz with a tzNIC-accredited registrar and pay by mobile money or bank transfer.
2. Create a free OquMail workspace at oqumail.com. No card is requested.
3. Click Add domain, enter the domain, and copy the four records shown.
4. Open the registrar’s DNS panel and add the MX, SPF, DKIM and DMARC records. If there is no panel, move the nameservers to a free DNS host such as Cloudflare and add the records there.
5. Click Verify in OquMail. The live DNS check shows which record is still missing so you are not guessing.
6. Create mailboxes: info@, bookings@, accounts@ and one per staff member, up to 15.
7. Send a test from webmail, then add the account to the Gmail app or Outlook on your phone with the settings below.

The four DNS records OquMail needs

Tanzanian registrars usually run cPanel, so these go in Zone Editor. Delete the placeholder MX the host added, and make sure only one TXT records (short text lines in DNS used for email security) on the root starts with v=spf1.

• MX — host @, value mail.oqumail.com, priority 10
• SPF (TXT at @) — v=spf1 MX (Mail Exchanger — where incoming email is delivered) a:mail.oqumail.com ~all
• DKIM (TXT at your selector ._domainkey) — v=DKIM1; k=rsa; p=… (the exact key is shown in your OquMail dashboard)
• DMARC (TXT at _dmarc) — v=DMARC1; p=none; rua=mailto:dmarc@yourdomain.com

OquMail connection settings

• Incoming (IMAP): mail.oqumail.com, port 993, SSL/TLS
• Outgoing (SMTP): mail.oqumail.com, port 587, STARTTLS
• Username: your full email address (you@yourdomain.com)
• Password: the same password you use for OquMail webmail

What it costs

The domain is a yearly fee to the registrar. Email hosting is free: OquMail's free plan includes 15 mailboxes on up to 3 domains, 5 GB per mailbox, webmail, IMAP and SMTP, delivery logs and a send API, and it never asks for a card. That is the practical difference from Google Workspace or Microsoft 365, which need a card that clears international charges every month.

Pitfalls for Tanzanian businesses

• Bundled hosting email with no DKIM and a shared IP: your quotes to Europe land in spam. Check the OquMail delivery log after your first sends to confirm acceptance.
• Vodacom, Tigo and Airtel block outbound port 25. Use port 587 with STARTTLS in every mail app.
• Choosing SSL on port 587. Select STARTTLS; SSL on 587 fails silently and looks like a wrong password.
• Leaving the old Gmail address on TripAdvisor, SafariBookings and your Google Business Profile. Update every listing once the domain is live.
• Skipping DMARC. Without it your .co.tz can be spoofed to your own clients; p=none takes one minute to publish.

Common questions

Should a tour operator use .co.tz or .com?

Use .co.tz for sending because it tells the traveller you are really in Tanzania, and register the .com as well if you can, forwarding it to the same mailboxes. OquMail allows three domains on the free plan.

Can my guides read bookings@ on their phones?

Yes. IMAP keeps the mailbox in sync, so several phones can read bookings@ and see what has been answered. Give each person their own address too.

Are there hidden limits?

15 mailboxes, 3 domains, 5 GB per mailbox. No trial period, no card, and you can upgrade later without changing DNS.