How OTR is maximising returns from public investments, drive TZ’s economic future

DAR ES SALAAM: THE Office of the Treasury Registrar (OTR) is undergoing a transformative shift that could redefine how public investments drive Tanzania’s economic future. Long viewed mainly as a supervisory office, OTR is repositioning itself as a strategic driver of value creation, growth and national wealth.

Treasury Registrar Mr Nehemiah Mchechu said recently that the time has come to rethink how government investments are managed and what they are expected to deliver.

“OTR has an opportunity not only to support fiscal spending, but maximise return on investment from government investments for long term growth,” he said.

This marks a move beyond routine oversight toward a model in which public assets are expected to generate measurable economic returns and play a more direct role in national transformation. The urgency of this shift is underscored by the scale of public investments under government oversight.

The government’s total domestic and foreign investments have continued to register steady growth, reaching 92.29tri/- as of June 30, 2025 and that is a seven per cent increase from 86.3tri/- recorded in the 2023/24 financial year. This vast portfolio spans 308 Public and Statutory Corporations (PSCs) and minority-owned companies, which together form the backbone of Tanzania’s non-tax revenue base.

With public capital of this magnitude at stake, strengthening return on investment, improving portfolio performance and ensuring commercial sustainability are no longer optional but central to national wealth creation.

From custodian to performance driver

Traditionally, OTR has been associated with custodianship safeguarding government shareholdings and supervising PSCs. While this responsibility remains, the new approach places greater emphasis on performance, productivity and value unlocking. OTR is therefore moving beyond asset safeguarding to aggressively addressing performance challenges and supporting institutional reforms that unlock value.

OTR now seeks to ensure that every shilling invested by the government generates measurable returns. A key pillar of this reform is the shift from viewing OTR as a revenue collector to positioning it as a revenue catalyser. In the past, considerable effort focused on revenue collection, compliance and budgeting, tasks that, while necessary, are time-intensive and do not automatically increase investment returns.

The emerging focus is on the growth and performance of public investment portfolios, with revenue assessments increasingly tied to institutional performance. OTR is therefore transitioning from traditional revenue management to broader resource mobilisation, exploring innovative financing mechanisms that support PSCs, unlock capital and maximise the value of government investments.

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This evolution reframes PSCs from institutions largely focused on service delivery into engines of commercial sustainability and economic productivity.

By concentrating on commercially viable entities and steering them toward growth, OTR consolidates its role as the central investment advisory and sovereign investment arm of the government, reinforcing its contribution to economic transformation.

Commercially viable public entities are being positioned to make greater contributions to GDP growth from the current 5 per cent, while improved performance is also expected to help reduce the government’s fiscal burden. Currently, the average dependence of Public and Statutory Corporations (PSCs) on government subsidies stands at about 49 per cent, highlighting the scale of the sustainability challenge.

Improved performance of commercially viable public entities is therefore expected to reduce dependency on government subsidies, easing pressure on public finances while strengthening their contribution to GDP growth.

Investments as strategic growth tools

The shift also responds to a growing national budget and rising development demands. Public investments are increasingly viewed not merely as expenditures but as strategic instruments for growth. Through improved PSCs performance, dividend flows can increase, financial sustainability can strengthen and overall economic impact can expand.

On June 10, 2025, at the State House in Dar es Salaam, Mr Mchechu handed a record of 1.028 tri/- cheque in dividends and contributions from public entities and minority government-owned companies to President Samia Suluhu Hassan, marking the first time collections have reached the trillion-shilling mark and signalling the growing returns from improved portfolio performance.

This milestone demonstrates the potential of wellmanaged public investments, but sustaining and expanding such gains requires deeper institutional reform. To drive economic transformation, OTR itself must radically transform how it delivers its mandate so as to supplement a steadily growing national budget while generating stronger returns for wealth creation. Performance accountability is taking centre stage.

OTR is strengthening its focus on strategic performance indicators, corporate governance and leadership accountability within public corporations. Oversight is increasingly outcome-driven rather than process-focused, aligning public enterprises with commercial discipline while maintaining their public mandate.

Mr Mchechu noted that OTR itself must evolve to realise this vision. Achieving an impact that drives economic transformation requires stronger investment analysis, improved portfolio management and data-driven decision-making. The institution is adopting market-oriented approaches to supplement the national budget and generate higher returns for national wealth.

A long-term vision for national wealth

At the core of this evolution is a long-term vision for national wealth. OTR aims to identify new financial sources, channel capital into Tanzania’s most productive sectors and position public investments as tools for structural transformation.

“Maximising returns will require deeper reforms such as private sector partnerships, international positioning and sector-specific investment strategies,” asserted Mr Mchechu. If fully realised, this shift could mark a turning point in leveraging public assets transforming them into stronger contributors to growth and prosperity.

In summary, OTR’s transformation can be captured in three key shifts: From custodian to change agent, from revenue collector to revenue catalyser and from controlfocused oversight to outcomedriven performance. For Tanzania, the message is clear: Public investments must not only be safeguarded but also made to work harder for national development.

●Prepared by the Office of the Treasury Registrar.