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Tanzania eyes law to promote foreign investment

Published

3 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 assessing implications of Senegal financial audit

Published

14 hours ago

October 17, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has revealed that a staff team has travelled to Senegal to begin evaluating the ramifications of data adjustments that emerged from a government audit of previous and ongoing initiatives that the IMF had sponsored.

IMF staff will continue to collaborate closely with the authorities in the upcoming weeks to assess the macroeconomic impact and lay out the next measures, the Fund said in a statement, even though the government’s findings have not yet been certified.

Last month, an audit of Senegal’s finances, commissioned by recently elected President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, revealed that the country’s deficit at the end of 2023 was over 10% of GDP, as opposed to the 5% that the previous administration had estimated.

Following the Fund’s evaluation in June, the government announced that it had chosen not to proceed with Senegal’s request for an IMF disbursement in July. Since then, the West African nation has been in talks with the IMF about corrective action.

From October 9 to October 16, an IMF staff team travelled to Senegal to examine the preliminary audit findings.

The next steps “will include assessing whether any misreporting occurred during previous and current IMF-supported programs”, the statement said.

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Namibia central bank drops key rate again to boost growth

Published

14 hours ago

October 17, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

The Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of Namibia’s central bank unanimously decided to cut the repo rate by 25 basis points to 7.25%, the same size of cut as at the August meeting.

The central bank cited the country’s economy’s need for additional support and the unexpectedly rapid decline in inflation as reasons for the second consecutive meeting of its main interest rate cut.

“The MPC noted the growing momentum in the international monetary policy easing cycle, the retreat in domestic inflation over the medium term, along with the recent downside surprise in the September 2024 inflation print,” Bank of Namibia Governor Johannes Gawaxab said in a statement accompanying the decision.

The nation in southern Africa saw its annual inflation decline sharply from 4.4% in August to 3.4% in September.

The central bank’s most recent meeting on Wednesday downgraded the average inflation forecast for this year from 4.7% to 4.3%.

The revision was ascribed to a more optimistic outlook for global oil prices as well as a more robust domestic currency rate.

According to the bank, credit extension to the private sector is still muted, indicating that more assistance for the home economy is necessary.
“The domestic economy, while growing at a moderate pace, was operating below full capacity,” Gawaxab said.

In 2024, growth is expected to drop to 3.1% from 4.2% in 2023.

Regarding a $750 million redemption of Eurobonds that is scheduled for late 2025, Namibia’s governor of the central bank stated that 82% of the $500 million it wishes to retire at maturity has already been put aside.

The government is still hoping to refinance the $250 million that is left! stated Gawaxab.In 2024, growth is expected to drop to 3.1% from 4.2% in 2023.