TZ reaps big from WEF
TANZANIA’s participation in the 53rd annual World Economic Forum (WEF) has attracted a number of companies that have shown interest to invest in various sectors of production.
This was unveiled recently by the Acting Executive Director of Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) John Mnali after the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
The delegation of Tanzania into the forum was led by President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
“A number of foreign investors from international companies have shown interest to invest in various sectors of production including agriculture, mining and industrial sectors,” he said.
According to him, one of the international companies has shown interest in setting up a fertiliser manufacturing plant by using natural gas.
“There are some others who want to invest in the health sector, extractive industry as well as in the value addition chain in the agriculture sector,” noted Mr Mnali.
For his part, Director General of Zanzibar Investment Promotion Authority (ZIPA) Sharrif Ali Sharrif commended the government for its continued efforts to improve the investment climate in mainland and Zanzibar.
He said, from the forum, they managed to meet with investors who want to explore various economic opportunities in Zanzibar under a win-win arrangement.
“Some of them want to invest in the real estate, oil and gas sectors. We have also seen others who want to work under partnership arrangements,” he said.
“We have also seen some investors who want to work under partnership in the construction of port infrastructure,” added the ZIPA boss.
Available statistics issued by TIC in December last year showed that Tanzania registered a total of 132 projects worth 3.16 billion US dollars (more than 7tri/-) in the past five months.
The recorded value is almost four times the value registered during the same period in the year 2021, where the value was 881 million US dollars (about 2.06tri/-).
The TIC boss said that the mentioned projects were those that were registered between July and November 2022.
“The value of projects registered in the period from July to November 2022 has increased by 259 per cent in comparison to the value of projects registered in July – November 2021,” TIC Acting Executive Director underscored.
He further added that among the total projects recorded, 50 projects are owned by foreigners while 30 by locals and 52 are under joint ventures between locals and foreigners.
Expounding on the registered projects based on sectors, Mr Mnali revealed that the industrial sector was leading by attracting 67 projects.
“During the period the industrial sector led by attracting 67 projects followed by the transportation sector (25), tourism (12), agriculture (9), services (8), commercial buildings (7), human resources (3) and the Financial Sector (1),” he pointed out.
Moreover, he said the registered projects are expected to create a total of 21,297 employment opportunities.
“The number of employment opportunities created from investment projects registered from July to November 2022 has increased by 57 per cent from 13,578 jobs during the same period last year to 21,297 employments this year,” he underlined.
This year’s 53rd annual event’s theme was ‘Cooperation in a Fragmented World’, where business leaders, politicians, economists, and stakeholders discussed various aspects of global challenges ranging from the cost of living crisis and sustainable business models.
The workshop aimed at discussing food security, nutrition, environment and climate change.
Speaking on Wednesday, President Samia made assurance of achieving a 10 per cent annual growth rate in the agricultural sector by 2030 compared to the current growth of around 3.6 per cent, as part of the country’s ambitious agricultural transformation vision.