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Tanzania eyes law to promote foreign investment

Published

5 months ago

July 16, 2024

The Tanzanian government has suggested changing its rules to give Tanzanians living abroad special status so they can open businesses in important, high-priority economic sectors to attract more foreign investment.

The government has introduced the Miscellaneous Amendments Bill 2024 to Parliament for discussion, aiming to offer special status to Tanzanians residing abroad so they can establish businesses in their home country, thereby relaxing its burdensome regulations and legislation.

Through the Diaspora Tanzanite card, Tanzanians living abroad will be eligible for inheritance rights and investment incentives under the proposed immigration law revisions.

Only citizens of Tanzania have been allowed to possess land and other properties. The Miscellaneous Amendments Act, 2024, was released on June 26 and suggests amending the Land Act, cap 113, and the Immigration Act, cap 54, to grant land occupancy titles to Tanzanians residing abroad.

Tanzania is one of the African nations with stringent immigration laws and restrictions on property ownership rights that are placed on foreign nationals and residents who hold dual citizenship.

Before this, President Samia Suluhu Hassan had pledged to examine the Immigration Act. During her six-day official visit to Seoul in June, she addressed Tanzanians living in South Korea and promised her government would make sure Tanzanians living abroad would receive special treatment, including the opportunity to settle in Tanzania without having to go through a laborious visa application process.

As of 2018, the manufacturing sector in Tanzania attracted the greatest concentration of foreign direct investment (FDI) among all economic sectors, according to Statista. It totalled 1.4 billion dollars, which was split among 133 projects. After that, FDI in agricultural activities totalled more than half a billion dollars.

She promised to provide the legislative framework necessary to allow Tanzanians living abroad to send money home through their families to invest in, acquire, and use technology and knowledge that are primarily required for manufacturing, services, and agricultural output.

Samia informed the Tanzanians in Seoul that by 2023, Tanzanians living abroad had invested almost Tsh280 billion ($106 million) in housing, while others had purchased shares in UTT Asset Management and Investors Services (UTT AMIS) for Tsh6.45 billion ($2.4 million).

Through unified laws throughout the EAC, the Tanzania Investment Center (TIC) has been encouraging members of the East African Community (EAC) to form cooperative companies in Tanzania.

To identify and help Tanzanians living abroad register for business and investments, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the East African Co-operation built a diaspora database. The database is based on the availability of enough land that would be a good investment.

Tanzania lacked active agricultural investments, had a weak agro-industrial basis, and received little revenue from cash crops despite having abundant agricultural land.

Tanzania has 44 million hectares of arable land in total, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, but only 15 million of those hectares are being farmed for both food and commercial crops.

Related Topics:FDI Featured Foeign Investment Tanzania

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IMF, Egypt reach agreement for fourth review of Egypt’s $1.2 billion loan request

Published

1 day ago

December 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Egypt and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have reached a staff-level agreement over the fourth review of the Extended Fund Facility arrangement, which might lead to a $1.2 billion payout under the program.

In March, Egypt, struggling with rising inflation and cash shortages, consented to the $8 billion, 46-month facility. Its economic problems were made worse by a precipitous drop in Suez Canal revenue over the last year due to regional tensions.

Over the next two years, Egypt’s government has committed to raising its tax-to-revenue ratio by 2% of GDP, according to the IMF, emphasising removing exemptions rather than raising taxes.

According to a statement from the IMF, this would allow it to expand social expenditure to support vulnerable populations.

“While the authorities’ plans to streamline and simplify the tax system are commendable, further reforms will be needed to enhance domestic revenue mobilization efforts,” the statement said.

According to the IMF statement, Egypt had also committed to maintaining its commitment to a flexible currency rate and to taking more urgent action to guarantee that the private sector became the primary driver of development.

The IMF’s executive board still has to accept the fourth review’s staff-level agreement.

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Libya’s eastern govt accepts petrol subsidy elimination

Published

1 day ago

December 26, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

In a recent statement, the eastern government of Libya claimed it had reached a consensus on a plan to eliminate gasoline subsidies and would draft a mechanism to carry out the accord.

Additional information on the idea was not released by the administration led by Osama Hamad, a challenger to the internationally acknowledged Tripoli-based government.

However, it is uncertain if Hamad’s government would be able to carry out the plan in the divided nation.

According to the Global Petrol Prices online tracker, a litre of gasoline costs just 0.150 Libyan dinars ($0.03) in OPEC member Libya, making it the second-cheapest in the world.

Following an uprising against former ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, smuggling networks have thrived in the ensuing political unrest and armed fighting. In 2014, conflicting eastern and western governments separated the nation.

A World Bank analysis estimates that the annual value of fuel smuggling from Libya is at least $5 billion.

In a meeting with Mari Barrasi, the deputy governor of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL), located in Tripoli, and four members of the bank’s board of directors, Hamad in Benghazi supported the idea of removing subsidies.

The CBL’s Benghazi branch offices served as the venue for the conference.

The eastern parliament appointed Hamad in 2023 to succeed Abdulhamid Dbeibah, who had been put in position in 2021 under a U.N.-backed procedure that the parliament said had lost its legitimacy.

Dbeibah, who is located in Tripoli, stated in January that he will conduct a public poll on the topic of eliminating gasoline subsidies, but he hasn’t done anything about it since.

According to CBL figures, gasoline subsidies cost 12.8 billion Libyan dinars between January and November of this year. 4.8 Libyan dinars to $1 is the official exchange rate.