TZ records fertiliser business boom

DODOMA: TANZANIA has witnessed a surge in fertiliser factories in the past four years of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration as the country equally recorded a handsome fertiliser business boom.

This was said in Dodoma yesterday by the Tanzania Fertiliser Regulatory Authority (TFRA) Executive Director, Mr Joel Laurent when addressing journalists on the key achievements attained by the sixth phase government.

Under President Samia’s leadership, we have witnessed a surge in the establishment of fertiliser factories across the country.

“In just four years, we have seen the number of operational fertiliser manufacturing plants double,” Mr Laurent stated, adding:

“This growth is a testament to the government’s efforts to create a conducive environment for investment in the agricultural sector.”

According to him, when President Samia took over the office of the Presidency, there were only 16 fertiliser industries, but in 2023/2024 the number increased to 33 factories.

“Out of those, three are large factories, eleven are medium and 19 are small-sized industries,’’ he noted.

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According to the TFRA boss, the country has witnessed large investors wishing to invest in Nitrogen fertiliser production which is needed by many farmers as well as local industries that use it as raw materials.

“Already, different investors have signed Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) to kick off fertiliser business, something that the country has never witnessed before.”

He gave an example of a recent occasion where Tanzania entered into a landmark agreement with Indonesia’s ESSA Group to build a fertiliser plant worth over 1.3 billion US dollars (about 3.5tri/-) in Lindi Region.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on July 31st last year in Dar es Salaam, with key stakeholders including the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) and the TFRA in attendance.

This plant, to be located at the Likong’o-Mchinga site in Lindi Region, will have an annual production capacity of 1 million tonnes of urea fertiliser, according to him.

This capacity is expected to meet Tanzania’s domestic demand of 700,000 tonnes per year and provide excess for export.

It will equally offer 4,500 direct jobs during the construction stage and 5,000 others during production, which is expected to kick off in 2029 as well as creating 389,000 indirect employments.