President Samia’s Government and investment achievements in Tanzania
TIC Executive Director Gilead Teri (right), exchanges documents with an investor from Foodplatform Company- Ibrahim Qammar, after signing an agreement for the development of agriculture in Mkulazi, Morogoro region. Witnessing the event are ministers and other government officials who attended the ceremony held in Dodoma.
What you need to know:
- President Samia Suluhu Hassan stated that her government would take specific measures to promote investment, including making several policy, law, and regulation amendments to the provisions hindering investment growth.
One of the priority areas of the sixth phase government is to improve the business and investment environment.
In her maiden speech in Parliament, President Samia Suluhu Hassan stated that her government would take specific measures to promote investment, including making several policy, law, and regulation amendments to the provisions hindering investment growth.
Those measures now have borne fruit, as in her leadership there have been a favorable investment and employment opportunities for Tanzanians, leading to significant changes in industrial and business sectors.
Through the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC), the government has successfully attracted both domestic and foreign investments by creating better conditions, including removing the barriers that investors faced.
TIC’s Executive Director, Gilead Teri, states that between July 2023 and June 2024, the government has made substantial policy and regulatory changes to improve the business and investment environment.
The changes demonstrate Tanzania’s commitment to create a better and more accessible investment environment.
“During the financial year from July 2023 to June 2024, TIC registered 707 projects compared to 369 projects in the 2022-2023 financial year, with a value of USD 6.561 billion compared to USD 5.394 billion in the 2022-2023 financial year. The projects are expected to generate 226,585 jobs compared to 53,871 jobs in the 2022-2023 financial year.
Among the projects, 38.19 per cent are owned by Tanzanians, 42.86 percent by foreigners, and 19.38 per cent are joint ventures between Tanzanians and foreigners,” says Mr Teri.
He says that during that period, there was a 91.60 percent increase in project registration compared to the period from July 2023 to June 2024, with 707 projects registered compared to the 2022-2023 financial year, where only 369 projects were registered.
Expected employment increased by 320.61 per cent from 53,871 to 226,585.
“The value of capital for registered projects increased by 21.6 percent from USD 5,394.83 million to USD 6,561.09 million,” says Mr Teri.
He states that the manufacturing sector leads by 313 projects worth USD 2.462 billion, followed by the transportation sector with 128 projects worth USD 1.035 billion. The third is the construction of commercial buildings with 76 projects worth USD 1.079 billion, the fourth is tourism with 75 projects worth USD 349.40 million, and the fifth is agriculture with 56 projects worth USD 710.02 million.
The government has continued to improve the One-Stop Service Centre at TIC by introducing an online system for registering investment projects.
The system enables investors to register their projects from anywhere in the world between one to three days.
This centre has helped accelerate the project registration process. For example, the increase in registered projects from 369 to 707 in the 2023/24 financial year is evidence of the transformation brought by the centre.
Additionally, the centre has introduced fast services through the Premier Service Centre, where an investor can get assistance with permits and registration more quickly, within 24 hours.
This one-stop service centre has enabled TIC to closely collaborate with 12 institutions responsible for issuing permits and licences to investors.
The TIC has established an electronic system known as the “Tanzania Electronic Investment Window (TeIW),” which has significantly facilitated investors and allowed for the registration of projects and applications from anywhere in the world.
The Minister of State, President’s Office, Planning and Investment Prof Kitila Mkumbo (seated), signs the guest book after launching the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) office located at the Ngorongoro building in Arusha city. Witnessing the event are; Permanent Secretary, President’s Office, Planning and Investment Dr Tausi Mbaga Kida (third left), the Regional Commissioner of Arusha Paul Makonda (second left), TIC Executive Director Gilead Teri (second right) and other government officials.
National campaign to promote domestic investment
The TIC has launched various campaigns to promote investment, including a campaign that began in August 2023 to encourage local investors to register their projects with the TIC.
The campaign was launched by Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa on September 25, 2023. The first phase of the campaign covered 17 regions of Tanzania, namely; Mwanza, Geita, Shinyanga, Tabora, Singida, Manyara, Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Tanga, Pwani, Morogoro, Dodoma, Iringa, Njombe, Mbeya, Songwe, and Mtwara.
The second phase aims to reach the regions of Kagera, Mwanza, Mara, Simiyu, Lindi, Ruvuma, Rukwa, Katavi, and Kigoma.
In collaboration with the Zanzibar Investment Promotion Authority (ZIPA), the campaign will also reach Unguja and Pemba.
The objectives of this campaign are to change the perception that investment is exclusively for foreign nationals and not for Tanzanians by providing investment education, particularly the procedures for registering various investment projects.
This is aimed at raising awareness and encouraging the registration of projects to benefit from tax and non-tax incentives.
The campaign involves conducting seminars in targeted regions for businesspeople, entrepreneurs, journalists, and investors in collaboration with regional and district authorities to increase the number of local investors and enable them to benefit from incentives, with the goal of boosting the economy.
Other activities to be done include visiting some of the investment projects being carried out by domestic investors, accompanied by media outlets, to showcase project implementation and share various testimonies from local investors who have benefited from incentives in successfully executing their projects.
This campaign, which is part of the implementation of the 2020 CCM Election Manifesto, also aims to fulfil the sincere intention of President Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan to open up the country by encouraging and attracting both local and foreign investors to invest in various economic sectors.
In executing this campaign, TIC has designated 2024 as the national investment year, running the second phase of the campaign from July 15 to September 3, 2024, in the aforementioned regions, in collaboration with the relevant regional and district authorities and various media outlets in the country to promote investment.
Investment in the country aims to address various challenges in society by bringing efficiency and benefits that stimulate the growth of our country’s economy.
The TIC also aims to attract investment capital, bring new and modern technology to Tanzanians, create new employment opportunities for the youth, increase revenue from taxes and non-tax sources, develop the skills of the country’s human resources, boost domestic product production, and the economy while saving foreign currency spent on importing various products from abroad.
Teri concludes that the TIC’s strategies aims at registering 1,000 projects with a value of USD5 billion in foreign capital and USD3.5 billion in domestic capital. It also aims at ensuring that 10 percent of the projects contribute to efforts to combat climate change.
