Investment sector shines in development agenda

TANZANIA: INCREASE in investment is one of the achievements that decorate the sixth phase government, pointing to industrialization of the country’s economy.

Tanzania like any other countries has created an enabling environment for investment in a bid to have a win win situation with investors. Under the leadership of President Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan, the government has made significant strides in ensuring that investment in the country grows and harvest economic fruits.

The government has, apart from devoting considerable attention to supporting investors, has streamlined licenses and permits procedures through implementing the “Blueprint” for regulatory reform, increasing the use of automation in compliances processes, rationalization of institutions reducing overlaps, simplifying investment land acquisition processes and undertaking sufficient time dialogues to address various challenges, including enacting a new investment Act in 2022.

President Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan in a very short time has worked tirelessly and continued to show great commitment to transforming the country’s investment landscape by elevating the investment mandate to her office.

According to the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) Quarterly Investment Bulletin October to December 2023, Tanzania continues to improve the investment climate through regulatory reforms.

According to the investment registration by TIC, the government institution has reported an improvement in the quality of projects, capital and jobs registered. In quarter two that cover October to December 2023, the Centre registered 161 projects worth US$ 1396.73 million, which are expected to generate 18,390 new jobs.

In comparison to the same period last year, where TIC registered 58 projects worth US$ 769.65 million that were expected to generate 10,216 new jobs, this represents 178 percent increase in the number of approved registered projects as well as 81 percent increase in capital and 80 percent increase in jobs.

According to the report, in registration investment by sector, during quarter two the manufacturing sector recorded a significance performance of 59 registered projects, 7850 jobs to be created and an estimated capital of 690.89 million, followed by the transportation and tourism sectors.

However, according to the report, the ownership of projects registered in quarter two has increased for both foreign, joint venture and local.

“Foreign ownership of the projects registered has increased to 69 projects, compared to 23 projects recorded in the same period in 2022”, reads part of the report. In terms of joint ownership, it has increased to 32 projects in quarter two from 19 projects in the same period last year, meanwhile local ownership of the projects has increased to 60 from the 16 projects marked in the corresponding quarter in 2022.

In the regional distribution of projects according to the report, in quarter two, projects were primarily concentrated in Dar es Salaam, which attracted 67 projects, followed by Coast region (26 projects) and Arusha (15 projects).

All the projects registered according to the report, are expected to invest a total of US$ 1,396.73 million, and jobs to be created are 18,390 when all the projects are operating in full swing.

According to TIC, there are initiatives for the National Investment Campaign which commenced in January 2024 across Tanzania. The primary objective of that campaign according to TIC executive Director Gilead Teri is to foster investment by offering comprehensive support to all investors.

“The overarching aim is to ensure that investment opportunities and incentives become widely recognized among stakeholders throughout the entire country,” explained Mr Teri.

In the quarter two of 2023, 23 expansion/rehabilitation projects were registered with the expectation of creating 5,272 jobs and investing $225.17 million compared to the zero-project recorded from the same period last year.

However, TIC according to the report continues encouraging and facilitating both domestic and foreign investments, where Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) accounted for 50.34 percent of total approved investments or US$ 703.00 million.

In comparison, Domestic Investments (DI) accounted for 49.65 percent of total approved investments or US$ 693.25 million, where the DI experienced a substantial increase of around 201 percent from quarter two in 2022 to quarter two in 2023.

The report indicates a notable surge in DI during that period, apparently both FDI and DI saw significant positive changes between the two quarters and FDI, increased by 30 percent, while DI experienced a much larger percentage change of 201 percent.

In performance by sectors according to the report, during the second quarter, manufacturing, services, agriculture, energy and commercial building were the top five sectors in attracting FDI.

However, the top sectors in attracting DI were manufacturing, transportation, tourism, mining and petroleum and agriculture. In a bid to improve its services and simplify business procedures and save time and resources for investors, TIC has established a One-Stop Facilitation Centre (OSFC).

That facility was established within TIC headquarters, and it includes officials from investment support ministries, agencies and departments (MDAs) of the government.

According to TIC, the arrangement was being advanced into a single electronic window for service provision through which investors can access the services of the OSFC without having to visit the Centre physically.

The OSFC, according to TIC Director Mr Teri provides services in the form of issuing certificates, licenses, and permits needed by investors.

Those according to TIC, include certificate of incentives (for fiscal and nonfiscal incentives), company registration, taxpayer identification number (TIN), VAT deferment, customs duty exemption processing, business license, work permit, residence permit, Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) certificate, land acquisition and subsequent services, electric power utility line and occupational safety and health certificate.

As part of implementing its task of monitoring investment projects, the TIC has been following up on the implementation status of registered ventures. During that quarter, the Centre has recorded the implementation status for projects falling under various sectors, namely agriculture (10 projects), commercial building (6 projects), energy (1 project), human resource (2 projects), manufacturing (28 projects), mining (2 projects), natural resources (1 project), services (3 projects), tourism (8 projects) and transportation (7 projects).

Mwanza city resident Pili John praised the government for creating an enabling environment for investment issues, noting that the government should provide some more loans to local investors so that they can be part of the beneficiaries of the country’s resources.