Reporting by The Citizen                                                                                       September 18, 2018

More Info Tanzania to switch to natural gas-powered buses

Tanzania has been granted a loan worth $123.39 million to finance part of the country’s North-West Grid 400kV Nyakanaz–Kigoma power transmission line project.  

The funding was approved last Friday by the multilateral development finance institution, the African Development Bank (AfDB).

The project aims to improve supply, reliability and affordability of electricity in the Kigoma Region in north-western Tanzania by providing main grid access for the socio-economic transformation of the region in line with the country’s 2025 vision.

It is projected to increase electricity access from 16.2% to 20% in the region with over 483,000 households by 2024. Read more: Regional development bank commits to Tanzania’s gas power plant

This power transmission line to be completed by 2024 involves:

• The construction of a 280-km 400KV transmission line from Nyakanazi to Kigoma;
• Extension of Nyakanazi substation and construction of a new substation at Kigoma;
• Integration of existing Kigoma and Kasulu 33KV distribution networks with the main grid including supply of last-mile connection materials to serve at-least 10,000 new consumers in Kigoma Region.

Consultancy and audit services as well as compensation and/or resettlement of people affected by the project will also be implemented.

The project will be financed from three sources, namely, the AfDB loan, the South Korea Economic Development Co-operation Fund and the government of Tanzania. The funds, which represent 66%, 24% and 10% respectively of the overall cost, is estimated at $186.12 million.

Power transmission line

The power transmission line project will lower energy production costs by decommissioning expensive diesel-powered plants in Kigoma and Kasulu urban centres including surrounding areas.

In addition to enhancing job creation, the project is expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in north western Tanzania.

Furthermore, it will complement the ongoing Bank-funded 220 kV Rusumo-Nyakanazi regional transmission line including the multinational 80MW Rusumo Hydro Power Plant as well as other development partner supported energy infrastructure programmes in north western Tanzania.

More Info Tanzania secures loan for Nyakanaz–Kigoma transmission project

Dar es Salaam                                                                                                                        4 July 2018.

The government has come up with an initiative that is aimed at speeding up the process of improving Tanzania’s business climate.

Industry, Trade and Investment minister Charles Mwijage launched the initiative – dubbed the Tanzania Business Clinic (TBC) – in Dar es Salaam yesterday.

The launch followed the recent adoption by the Cabinet of a blueprint meant to lay the groundwork for a raft of amendments to laws and regulations with a view to improving the business environment.

Mr Mwijage said TBC would identify and provide long and short-term solutions to challenges specific companies or sectors were grappling with.

“TBC is basically a platform that will consist of business experts and officials from public institutions and agencies that are closely linked to business operations. They will teach people about the best ways of doing business as well as policies and regulations guiding them,” he said.

The group will have its head office in Dar es Salaam and branches in all Small Industries Development Organisation (Sido) offices across the country.

 “The platform comes after it was realised that efforts to come up with the Blueprint will be futile if the document will directly touch the targeted people,” Mr Mwijage said.

Presenting the 2018/19 Budget in Parliament last month, Finance and Planning minister Philip Mpango said implementation of the Blueprint would start during the 2018/19 financial year, which began on July 1.

“In a bid to stimulate industrial development, the government will direct more efforts in the implementation of the Blueprint for Regulatory Reform to Improve Business Environment for Tanzania in order to attract private sector investments, particularly in textiles; leather and meat; fish, edible oil; medicines and medical equipment; food and animal feeds; and mining,” Dr Mpango said.

These initiatives come after Tanzania put on a lacklustre performance in the World Bank’s Doing Business Report.

The blueprint – prepared after thorough consultations with various private sector associations and World Bank officials – will see the government initiate amendments of various laws including those governing value added tax; indicative prices for imports; immigration and labour; social security and environmental management, among others.

In the World Bank’s Doing Business 2018 Report, which was released last year, Tanzania was ranked 137th among 190 economies surveyed. The country did particularly poorly in starting a business (ranked 162nd); construction permits (156th); trading across borders (182nd) and registering a property (142nd).

But Mr Mwijage is optimistic that if the Blueprint is embraced by both the business community and regulators, it would help to change the latter’s mind-set towards businesses.

He said a mind-set change would help the government to score “quick wins” in key sectors.

“We are currently focusing on industries that will consume raw materials which are locally produced so as to stimulate production and value addition.”

The government, Mr Mwijage noted, was also focusing on manufacturing industries that were crucial in job creation.

“We believe that these industries have what it takes to transform Tanzania into an inclusive middle-income economy in line with our growth aspirations,” he said, adding that more emphasis was also being put on the cooking oil and pharmaceutical industries.

More Info Govt sets up ‘business clinic’ in reform push

Tanzania will issue large-scale mining licences only after cabinet approval, a senior official said on Friday, part of new measures aimed at further tightening control of the industry.

The East African country previously issued licences for large-scale projects through its mining ministry, but then delegated powers to a newly-appointed mining commission under new regulations passed in January.

Tanzania, Africa’s fourth-largest gold producer, is seeking a bigger return from its vast mineral resources by overhauling the fiscal and regulatory regime of its mining sector.

“The whole government, through the cabinet, will now be involved in approving licences for large-scale mining companies to make sure that national interests are safeguarded,” Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs Palamagamba Kabudi told members of parliament.

“For far too long, our mining laws have presided over the exploitation of our natural resource wealth instead of overseeing investments for the benefit of the nation,” Kabudi added.

The government overhauled the fiscal and regulatory regime of its mining sector last year, unnerving some foreign investors.

On Friday, Tanzania also announced that it would no longer sign new mineral development agreements (MDAs), which guarantee a stable tax regime for existing mining companies.

Foreign-owned mining companies that currently have MDAs in place in Tanzania include three gold-producing mines owned by London-listed Acacia Mining Plc and one gold mine owned by Anglogold Ashanti.

President John Magufuli has approved a series of actions since election in late 2015 that sent shockwaves through the Tanzanian mining industry.

In July last year, he suspended the issuance of all new mining licences until the new mining regulatory regime was in place.

The government has also imposed a ban on exports of gold and copper concentrates.

Barrick Gold Corp., majority shareholder of Acacia Mining, is currently at loggerheads with the government after Acacia was banned from exporting gold and copper concentrates, having been accused of tax evasion.

Acacia, which denies the allegations, has said it was seeking international arbitration for its investment dispute. It has since launched talks with the government.

At Friday’s parliamentary session, Mining Minister Angellah Kairuki said the government’s ban on exports of gold and copper concentrates would remain in force until mineral smelters were built in the East African nation.

“So far, 27 companies have already expressed interest to build mineral sand smelters in the country,” she said.

Kairuki said the ban on exports of mineral sand was aimed at boosting government revenue collection by adding value to the minerals in Tanzania.

By Fumbuka Ng’wanakilala

Editing by Aaron Maasho and Adrian Croft, REUTERS.

BEIJING, May 8, 2018.                                                                                           Xinhua | Editor: ZX

Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan attended the Third Forum on China-Africa Local Government Cooperation here on Tuesday, saying China is ready to contribute to Africa’s development with its own development.

In a speech at the opening ceremony, Wang said that China and Africa have always stuck with each other through thick and thin and supported each other. The local governments’ exchanges and cooperation on poverty alleviation and sustainable development will help promote the comprehensive strategic cooperation partnerships between China and African nations.

Wang said that China will unswervingly implement the strategy of opening up to the outside world for mutual benefit so as to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation under the guidance of Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

He noted that China is still a developing country and faces the principal contradiction of unbalanced and inadequate development. It is arduous task and big challenge for China to win the battle of targeted poverty alleviation and achieve an all-round well-off society, Wang said.

On the sidelines of the forum, Wang also met with Nigerien Prime Minister Brigi Rafini and former Tanzanian Prime Minister Salim Ahmed Salim, respectively.

When meeting with Rafini, Wang conveyed Chinese President Xi Jinping’s sincere greetings to Nigerien President Mahamadou Issoufou, saying that China will make efforts to lift bilateral ties to a new high.

Rafini also conveyed the Nigerien president’s greetings to President Xi, saying that Niger appreciates China’s help and support and hopes to learn from China’s experiences on development.

When meeting with Salim, Wang conveyed President Xi’s cordial greetings to Tanzanian President John Magufuli. Wang said he expects China-Tanzania ties will continue to advance through concrete cooperation projects under the guidance of the leaders of both sides.

Salim also conveyed the Tanzanian president’s greetings to President Xi, saying that China has sincerely helped Africa’s development and is a true friend of Tanzania. He hoped that the two sides will conduct in-depth exchanges and cooperation at all levels, and continue to consolidate and develop the traditional friendship between Tanzania and China.

Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan (R) meets with Nigerien Prime Minister Brigi Rafini on the sidelines of the Third Forum on China-Africa Local Government Cooperation in Beijing, capital of China, May 8, 2018. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua).

Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan (R) meets with former Tanzanian Prime Minister Salim Ahmed Salim on the sidelines of the Third Forum on China-Africa Local Government Cooperation in Beijing, capital of China, May 8, 2018. (Xinhua/Chen Yehua).

More Info  China to contribute to Africa’s growth.

Haley Zaremba                                                                                                     Apr 07, 2018, 6:00 PM CDT 

This week Tanzania opened a brand new $344 million, 167.82-megawatt natural gas power plant outside of the nation’s commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, marking a turning point in the nations push toward industrialization. The plant, already running at full capacity, is just one part of Tanzanian President John Magufuli’s initiative to transform the Sub-Saharan country’s economy–the third biggest in Africa–into an industrial powerhouse by 2025.

Up until this point, Tanzania has been the furthest thing from an energy frontrunner, with a population of 54 million, skyrocketing demand for power, and just 1,400 MW of installed grid capacity. In the past, the majority of Tanzania’s energy has come from hydropower, leading to frequent shortages in a region with persistent droughts. The inauguration of the new Kinyerezi II natural gas plant will be an undeniable game-changer for the East African nation.

The new natural gas infrastructure will be complemented with a massive hydropower generation project slated for July. The 2,100 MW hydropower project, to be built at the Stiegler’s Gorge in the Selous Game Reserve, will be the largest dam in Tanzania by the time it’s finished in 2021. Combined with the new natural gas plant, Tanzania is expecting to solve the nation’s previous power woes with this massive development in the nation’s power generation capabilities. Soon they may even be able to sell off surplus energy to other countries.

So how has a historically impoverished, developing nation made such a turnaround in such a short time? In a word: Japan. Japanese company Sumitomo Corp. constructed Tanzania’s revolutionary new natural gas plant, and a Japanese bank loan covered 85 percent of the $353.72 million price tag. However, Tanzania has also been making major strides in their own economic strategies with majorly successful money-saving initiatives, particularly when it comes to energy.

As part of the country’s push for sustainable energy independence, Tanzania has moved away from importing fossil fuels to focus on using their own domestic natural gas reserves, allowing them to save $4 billion between 2015 and 2017, and therefore massively accelerate domestic economic output and capabilities. The adoption of natural gas and the shift away from HFO and diesel has also saved nearly $6.7 billion just in 2015.

Now, the challenge will be keeping up with demand for natural gas. As the nation achieves its own industrial goals, the next step is to ensure sustainability. Currently Tanzania sources 50 percent of its electricity from natural gas, but the current regime is hoping to push that number a lot higher thanks to the new Kinyerezi II plant. Domestic demand for natural gas has already more-than doubled from 145 million standard cubic feet (scf) a day in 2016 to 300 million scf in 2017, according to figures from the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC).

The gas is there–it just needs to be extracted. Tanzania has 57 trillion cubic feet of proven natural gas reserves, but they are mostly undeveloped. Furthermore, for the gas that is readily available, there is very little infrastructure to deliver it to potential consumers. President Magufuli said last year that Tanzania will need to invest $46.2 billion over the next 20 years to overhaul its outdated energy infrastructure and increase output capacity to meet with the developing nation’s fast-growing demand for electricity.

Tanzania is still in the beginning stages of industrialization, but its recent developments are extremely promising for the nation’s own economic independence. With growing infrastructure and more readily available electricity, the country will be able to attract much more investment from more wealthy countries (like Japan) but will hopefully also allow the long-impoverished nation to come into its own as an economic player on the global stage.

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com

More Info Tanzania’s $344M Natural Gas Plant Is A Game Changer

Megan  van  Wyngaardt                                                                                                     9th March 2018  

Tanzania has granted Australia’s Magnis Resources approval for a graphite processing plant in a designated special economic zone (SEZ) to process graphite mined from the Nachu mine.

The SEZ is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Industry, Trade and Investment, and is not subject to the changes in the mining legislation promulgated last year.

The SEZ licence for production of value-added graphite products is the only such license to be granted in Tanzania, which is pushing for the implementation of large projects that will add value to the country’s economy and development.

Following the introduction of new mining sector legislation in Tanzania during the second half of 2017, Magnis has continued to progress discussions with the government regarding the development of the mining and processing projects.   Those discussions led to Magnis submitting a proposal outlining that the entire Nachu processing plant will operate under a 100% subsidiary, Magnis TechnologyTanzania (MTT) in the SEZ licence area, with the productsfrom the SEZ continuing to be advanced graphite productsthat can be made using Magnis’ proprietary technology.

Magnis is also the parent company of Uranex Tanzania.

MTT will own and operate 100% of the company’s processing plant at Nachu under the laws applicable to the SEZ under the Export Processing Zone Authority (EPZA) with the objective of promoting investment in Tanzania.

MTT will initially produce refined jumbo and super jumbo flake products and spheroidal graphite products for the lithium-ion battery market, while Uranex will operate under the laws and regulations applicable to the country’s miningindustry under the Ministry of Minerals.

President John Magufuli has set Tanzania on a firm path towards industrial development, with the processing of industrial mineral ores at the top of the industrialisation agenda. In this regard, EPZA CEO Joseph Leon Simbakalia said the authority had been mandated by law to play the critical role of promoting and facilitating the establishment of SEZs to host minerals ore beneficiation industries linked to a value chain of associated downstream industries.

“We are pleased to announce with Magnis that Industry, Trade and Investment Minister Charles Mwijage who is also EPZA’s chairperson, already signed to endorse amendment of the Magnis Resources Export Processing Zones made under Government Notice Number 221 of 2017.”

“We look forward to working closely with Magnis by way of facilitation and assistance that will enable execution of this exciting project in optimum time; with the introduction of new technologies to process graphite, as well as the development of new skills for Tanzanians,” said Simbakalia.

Magnis chairperson Frank Poullas said the ongoing support provided to us by the Tanzanian government crystallised the value of the Nachu project and established MTT as an approved graphite processor in Tanzania.

“We look forward to progressing development at Nachu and bringing considerable economic and skills benefits to Tanzania through the development of the mine and the processing operations through MTT,” Poullas added.

Edited by: Mariaan Webb
Creamer Media Senior Researcher and Deputy Editor Online.

More Info Tanzania grants Magnis approval to operate graphite processing plant