Govt taps Saturn Corp to revive General Tyre

DAR ES SALAAM: THE government has directed the National Development Corporation (NDC) to collaborate with Kigamboni-based Saturn Corporation, a vehicle assembly company, to revive the defunct General Tyre East Africa plant.

The Minister for Industry and Trade, Dr Selemani Jafo, issued the directive during his visit to Saturn’s factory in Dar es Salaam yesterday to celebrate the factory’s one-year anniversary.

“Saturn Corporation’s truck assembly plant could connect us with a tyre manufacturing company. I urge NDC to partner with Saturn and explore ways to revive the Arusha tyre factory through this collaboration,” said Dr Jafo over the weekend.

Dr Jafo said the country has vast rubber plantations, especially in the Tanga region and noted that the time is ripe for locally produced car tyres to enter the market.

He said he was confident in NDC’s ability to work quickly with Saturn and other stakeholders to develop a strategy to restart the factory, which would support local tyre production and create job opportunities.

The minister outlined the government’s six-year industrial development plan, which aims to establish 9,048 factories nationwide to accelerate economic growth and provide employment for graduates and other skilled workers.

He said the government and financial partners will support this robust strategy, which targets the creation of 6.5 million jobs, including 1,040,000 permanent jobs across the country.

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The General Tyre East Africa, which was established in 1971 to enhance the automobile industry in the Eastern Africa region, failed to yield the desired fruits and was closed in 2009 due to, among others, mismanagement.

As a result, the country today imports 100 per cent of its tyres.

Dr Jafo also said the government is committed to improving the investment environment in all regions to make it easier and more attractive for both local and international investors to do business in the country.

“We are continuing with policy reforms to ensure that various stakeholders and investors find Tanzania a favourable destination,” he said.

The Saturn vehicle assembly plant in Kigamboni currently has the capacity to assemble 12 vehicles per day in a single shift.

In its first year, it produced 1,500 vehicles. The factory targets to produce 9,000 heavy-duty vehicles by 2027.