HESLB Loan Repayment: Mobile Money and Employer Deductions
By Muntasir • Published Aug 05, 2026 • Updated Sep 27, 2026 • African Scholarships & Student Funding
After a one year grace period following graduation, HESLB takes 15% of your basic salary if you are employed, or a minimum of TZS 100,000 or 10% of your taxable income (whichever is higher) if you work for yourself. You can pay through your employer, mobile money, or the HESLB portal.
💵 Employed: 15% of basic monthly salary, deducted by your employer
💵 Self-employed/informal: minimum TZS 100,000 or 10% of taxable income monthly, whichever is higher
📩 Pay via M-Pesa, Tigo Pesa, Airtel Money, the HESLB app, or the beneficiary portal
Employers remit deductions through the HESLB employer portal
Informal-sector recovery is HESLB's biggest repayment challenge, so keep your details updated
When you start repaying
HESLB gives you a one year grace period after you successfully complete your studies. Once that year is up, repayment falls due whether or not you have found work, and the path that applies depends on your work status at that point.
If you are employed
After a one year grace period following graduation, your employer deducts 15% of your basic monthly salary and remits it to HESLB, under the Higher Education Students' Loans Board Act, as reported by The Citizen . Employers handle this through the HESLB employer portal, where they register beneficiaries on their payroll and submit deductions monthly alongside standard PAYE tax filings. You can also clear the loan in a lump sum instead of monthly installments if the funds are available.
If you are self-employed or work informally
Self-employed and informal-sector beneficiaries repay a minimum of TZS 100,000 a month, or 10% of their taxable income, whichever amount is higher. This group is harder for HESLB to track than salaried employees, since there is no employer deducting automatically, and the Board has named informal-sector recovery as one of its biggest repayment challenges.
| Beneficiary type | Repayment amount | How it is collected |
|---|---|---|
| Employed | 15% of basic monthly salary | Employer deduction via the HESLB employer portal |
| Self-employed / informal sector | TZS 100,000 or 10% of taxable income, whichever is higher | Self-remitted via mobile money, the HESLB portal, or a bank |
Mobile money and digital payment channels
HESLB accepts repayments through mobile money, including M-Pesa, Tigo Pesa, and Airtel Money, alongside its mobile app and the online beneficiary portal at heslb.go.tz . These channels let you pay from anywhere without visiting a bank branch, which matters if you work in a rural area or move between jobs often. Check your loan balance and payment history through the beneficiary portal after each payment so any mismatch gets caught early.
Why HESLB pushes multiple payment channels
HESLB has struggled to recover loans from graduates who change jobs, move locations, or work informally without notifying the Board. Multiple payment channels, mobile money among them, exist to remove excuses for missed payments and make it easier for beneficiaries scattered across the country, in different types of work, to stay current.
What happens if you fall behind
HESLB tracks repayment through both the beneficiary and employer portals, and gaps between what employers report and what beneficiaries actually earn are a recurring source of the recovery shortfalls the Board has raised publicly. Keeping your employment and contact details updated with HESLB, and paying through whichever channel suits your situation, keeps your record clean and avoids your loan turning into a larger enforcement problem later.
A worked example
Say you land a formal job earning TZS 800,000 a month after your one year grace period ends. Your employer deducts 15% of your basic salary, TZS 120,000, and remits it to HESLB as part of running payroll. If you instead run a small business with TZS 500,000 in taxable income that month, 10% comes to TZS 50,000, below the TZS 100,000 floor, so you pay the TZS 100,000 minimum instead. Once your monthly taxable income passes TZS 1,000,000, 10% overtakes the floor and becomes the amount you owe.
Registering with your employer
Tell your employer's HR or payroll office that you are a HESLB beneficiary as soon as you start work, and share your loan account details so they register you on the HESLB employer portal. Employers who fail to register and deduct correctly risk penalties from HESLB, so following up in your first weeks on the job protects both you and them from a compliance problem later.
Keeping your own records
Save your payslips and mobile money payment confirmations. If HESLB's records ever show a missed or short payment that your employer or your own transfers should have covered, your own proof of deduction or payment resolves the dispute quickly.