Tanzania reaps 1.028tri/- in dividend payout

DAR ES SALAAM: THE Tanzanian government has earned a 1.028tri/- dividend payout from public institutions and government-linked companies, marking a significant 68 percent increase compared to last year.

The dividend includes contributions from 213 public organizations under the Treasury Registrar’s office and other companies where the government holds minority shares.

Speaking during the event held at the State House in Dar es Salaam, President Samia Suluhu Hassan called on the Treasury Registrar to create enabling environments that allow these institutions to thrive and contribute dividends as mandated by law, rather than forcing payments.

“My call to you is not to go and squeeze the organizations just to appear as if you have contributed; contribute as the law says. Do not feel ashamed even to contribute one or two billion. As you see today, your colleagues are being challenged to increase their dividends, but you too should be counted here. So do so for the benefit of our nation,” she said.

President Samia highlighted the government’s commitment to improving efficiency, accountability, and productivity in managing public entities. She stressed that dividends are a rightful return on government investments, not charity.

“I emphasize that the days when institutions kept profiting at the government’s expense without returning benefits are over. That is why we want institutions to be responsible, to bear themselves, and to carry the government,” she said.

This year’s theme for Dividend Day is:”Reforms of Public Institutions and the Duty to Contribute to Tanzania’s Development.”  Treasury Registrar Nehemia Mchechu said this theme carries economic, social, and policy weight, emphasizing that the government is not just a service provider but a major investor in the national economy.

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In his report, Mchechu said the dividend represents money collected up to yesterday, from 213 institutions that contributed.

“Last year around this time, by June 11, the contributing institutions were 145. So this year there has been an increase of 64 institutions, equivalent to 47percent. There are about 57 institutions that have not yet paid dividends, which is about 22 percent, and we expect them to collect within this period. Still, we understand those whose institutions do not allow it, but they have a significant contribution to the dividend,” he said.

Mchechu added: “When you received the dividend last year, you instructed us that next year you want to see an increase in the dividend. By the end of the month, we have not yet reached that, so the year is not yet complete, but even if we say we stop here, we will have done better by 34perecnt compared to last year when we delivered 767bn/-.”

He also said the dividend is a summary of dividends from companies and businesses that made 603.4bn/-, which is 59 percent of the collection.

Also, non-commercial institutions, which provide 15percent of their gross income, collected 363.4bn/-, equivalent to 34percent, while other collections amount to 21bn/-, or 6percent, from various sources.

He said capital investments have also grown from 65yril/- in 2020 to 86.29tri/- in 2024, an increase of 21.1tri/-.

Meanwhile, the Minister in the President’s Office for Planning and Investment, Prof. Kitila Mkumbo, said the government allowed 155,000 jobs in the last four years, of which 190,000 have gone to public institutions, whose contribution is very significant.