Investment and Trade
The Tanzania economy offers unlimited opportunities which
cut across sectors. These opportunities are available to both local
and foreign investors. This section presents highlights about some of
these opportunities. The purpose is to inform and encourage potential
investors to take their capital to Tanzania where they can make good
profit. These opportunities fall into the following major categories:
- Those based on Tanzania’s endowment with abundant
natural resources
- Those based on Privatization of public enterprises
- Those arising from investments in the above two areas.
Tanzania’s endowment with a wide range of natural resources provides
immense potential business opportunities:
Abundant arable land - Tanzania has nearly 90 million
hectares of arable land which is suitable for all agricultural purposes.
Only 17 per cent of this is utilized. The remaining 83 per cent is available
for new investment in direct crop production, livestock production,
poultry production, etc. There are also numerous related opportunities
such as supply of agricultural inputs, provision of extension services,
marketing/export of agricultural produce and agro-based -industrial
activities.
Abundant mineral resources - Gold, Diamond, gemstones
such as Tanzanite and Ruby, Coal and Natural gas provide unlimited mining
and related opportunities such as supply of mining equipment, provision
of exploration services, processing and export of mineral products.
The development of mining centers would naturally attract other essential
services such as medical care, education, water supply, supermarkets,
transport services, etc, all of which constitute important business
opportunities.
World famous tourist attractions – Kilimanjaro
Mountain, Serengeti National Park,
Ngorongoro Crater, Manyara Game
Reserve, Selous Game Reserve,
Mikumi and Katai National Parks
and the beautiful beaches on the Indian Ocean coast of Tanzania Mainland
and Zanzibar provide an array of tourism related business and investment
opportunities such as Hotel and restaurant services, Air charter and
land transportation services and tourist guides services, etc.
Large Water masses which include the Indian Ocean,
Lake Victoria, Lake Tanganyika,
Lake Nyasa, and several large rivers provide
numerous business opportunities related to fishing, sea and lake transport,
water supply for both domestic and commercial purposes, irrigation and
electricity generation.
Tanzania’s strategic geographical location on the shores of the
Indian Ocean makes it an outlet for several neighboring countries -
Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Malawi
and Zambia. This strategic location provides numerous business opportunities
related to sea, lake, road and rail transport, clearing and forwarding
and insurance services.
Existence of large tracks of natural vegetation provides business opportunities
related to lumbering, bee keeping and hunting activities.
Privatization of Public Enterprises - Since the early
1990s, Tanzania has been implementing an extensive programme to privatize
over 400 public enterprises across all sectors of the Tanzania economy.
This programme provides a range of business and investment opportunities,
including outright purchase of public firms (100% share ownership),
joint ownership with government as a minority or majority shareholder,
or management contracting. By end of 2002, 324 public enterprises had
been privatized. Over 70 firms were still available for privatization.
Some of the major parastatals currently on privatization include Air
Tanzania Corporation, Tanzania Railways Corporation, Tanzania Harbors
Authority and Dar es Salaam Water Supply Authority. There are also several
ranches which are on sale, covering a total of 634,597 hectares.
Details regarding the privatization requirements for each of these
enterprises as well as the entire privatization programme in Tanzania
can be obtained from the Presidential Parastatal Sector Reform Commission
(PSRC) which can be reached by phone at 255-22-211-7988/9 or 211-3065;
by Fax at 255-22-212-2870 by Email at
info@psrctz.com.
Detailed information can also be obtained from their website at
www.psrctz.com.
Investment in the above sectors creates investment opportunities
in the following sectors:
Social Services - including Education, health, Water
Supply in order to develop a quality labor force needed to work in the
various sectors of the economy. Related to these services are opportunities
in the supply of educational materials, medical supplies, water purification
chemicals, and water drilling and exploration equipments. Given the
growing Tanzania population, the demands for these services along with
the related activities continue to grow as well.
Transport - The ever growing demand for road, water,
rail and air transport services provide lucrative opportunities. Opportunities
include those related to infrastructural development such as construction
and operation of a road or railway line and actual provision of transport
services such as bus service, boat/cruise services, air/charter services
etc.
In the mid 1990s, the Government launched a concession system that
encourages private investors, both local and foreign to invest in infrastructural
development projects under the Build, Operate and Transfer scheme (BOT).
To assist investors identify feasible projects, the Government has earmarked
the following road stretches for Private Sector Investment; at least
for a start.
1. Dodoma –Tabora – Nzega: 487 kms or 304.25 miles
2. Tabora – Kigoma: 690 kms or 421.25 miles
3. Bagamoyo – Saadani: – 40 kms or 25 miles4.
4. Kigamboni Bridge Project to connect Kigamboni Peninsula with the
rest of Dar es Salaam city.
Many more specific projects can be identified on site.
Communication - Increased activities in various sectors
of the Tanzania economy has created increased demand for more and efficient
communication services in order to facilitate communication between
Tanzania and the rest of the world. This presents enormous investment
opportunities related to the provision of essential communication services
such as telephones, Fax, internet, postal and courier service, radio,
TV, newspapers etc.
Financial Services - Corresponding to the expansion
of the Tanzania economy is increased demand for financial services,
including banking, insurance and Bureau de Change, etc. which present
attractive investment opportunities. Already there are several Banks
operating in Tanzania. The major ones include the CRDB 1997 Ltd., Barclays
Bank Tanzania Ltd., Diamond Trust Bank Ltd., Citibank Tanzania Ltd.,
NBC 1997 Ltd., Kenya Commercial Bank Tanzania Ltd., Akiba Commercial
Bank Ltd., Standard Chartered Ltd., National Microfinance Bank Ltd.
and the International Bank of Malaysia (T) Ltd. Others are Exim Bank
Tanzania Ltd., Eurafrican Bank Ltd., Habib African Bank Tanzania Ltd.,
Kilimanjaro Cooperative Bank Ltd., and the People’s Bank of Zanzibar
Ltd.
Manufacturing - provides a wide range of opportunities,
including textiles, food processing, brewing, etc.
Trading in a variety of goods and services, both
for the domestic and export markets.
Hospitality: Hotel and Restaurant services.
Construction - Opportunities exist in various sectors
e.g. construction of roads, airports, ports, railways, buildings/houses,
Dam/wells etc.
Consultancy in various sectors.
Legal Services
Housing to cater for the housing needs of people
in different social categories.
AGOA - Tanzania is among AGOA-eligible sub Saharan
African countries which have already qualified for full benefits provided
under the African Growth and Opportunity Act of 2000 (AGOA). This provides
opportunities for Tanzania exporters to export into the USA market quota
and duty free. Tanzania is also among African countries whose exports
to the European market enjoy preferential treatment under the EU “All
products but Arms Scheme”. In addition, investing or doing business
in Tanzania provides preferential access to the East African and SADC
markets to which Tanzania is a founding member.
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