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Q3 FDI inflows to Tanzania total over $1 billion

Published

6 months ago

November 26, 2023

Tanzania recorded a double year-on-year increase in its Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) figures, which leaped to $1.05 billion from $524.4 million in the same period last year between July and September.

With $614 million in fresh investment capital during the period under review, China emerged as the largest source of FDIs, followed by Singapore ($138.9 million), Germany ($118.6 million), India ($42.3 million), and Mauritius ($24.8 million).

The revelation was made in the latest Tanzania Investment Centre’s quarterly bulletin. The country’s goal is to raise FDI inflows to $15 billion by 2025 and $30 billion by 2030—a considerable improvement from $2 billion in 2021.

Tanzania’s Finance Minister, Mwigulu Nchemba recently projected that the country’s economy would grow faster this year compared to 2022, with the expectation that the GDP would grow by 5.2% this year as global commodity price shocks abate and the business climate improves.

The spike in FDI since July, according to the TIC report, is “indicative of increased confidence in Tanzania’s economic prospects and potential for investment.” The report also claims that the increase was counteracted by a sharp decline in local investments, which resulted in a 14% decrease in new investment capital over the period under review, from $2.41 billion to $2.06 billion.

About 51% of new investments were made up of FDIs, compared to 49% made up of domestic investments, which saw a drop in first-quarter turnover from $1.91 billion in 2022 to $1.01 billion this year.

The tourism sector saw new investments worth $40.64 million compared to $36.34 million in 2022, while Tanzania’s manufacturing sector saw a sharp decline in total investments from $2.15 billion in Q1 2022 to $356 million in Q1 2023, according to the TIC report.

45 new foreign and domestic investment projects were fully owned by local investors, up from 38, 14, and 30, respectively, last year; 49 were fully under foreign ownership; 43 were joint ventures between local and foreign investors; and 137 new projects were approved by TIC during Q1 2023.

Meanwhile, the country is currently battling a population explosion with an increase of 37% between 2012 and 2022, reflecting an average annual growth rate of 3.2% higher than its economic growth, the third-highest population growth rate in the world.

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Nigeria’s inflation hits 28-year high of 33.69% in April

Published

1 day ago

May 16, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Nigeria’s consumer inflation reached a 28-year high of 33.69% in April, up from 33.20% in March, according to statistics agency figures released on Wednesday.

President Bola Tinubu’s administration has slashed petrol and energy subsidies and devalued the local naira currency twice.

To manage pricing pressures, the central bank has hiked interest rates twice this year, including the highest hike in almost 17 years. The central bank governor has stated that rates will remain high for as long as necessary to reduce inflation. The bank will host another rate-setting meeting next week.

When compared to the previous year, the inflation rate in April 2024 was 11.47 percentage points more than in April 2023, when it stood at 22.22 percent. This implies that the headline inflation rate has increased dramatically during the last year.

According to the National Bureau of Statistics, food and nonalcoholic beverages remained the largest contributor to inflation in April. Food inflation, which accounts for most of the inflation basket, rose to 40.53% yearly from 40.01% in March.

Price pressures have left millions of Nigerians facing the biggest cost-of-living crisis in decades, as they fight to satisfy their most basic necessities.

Tinubu has offered a 35% salary increase for state personnel to alleviate pressure on government workers. To assist disadvantaged households, his government has resumed a direct cash transfer program and provided at least 42,000 tons of grains such as corn and millet.

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Uganda discusses power line to South Sudan with China’s Sinohydro

Published

2 days ago

May 15, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

According to the president’s office, Uganda is in negotiations with Sinohydro Corporation Limited of China to build a $180 million power transmission line that would enable Uganda to export electricity to South Sudan, which is severely short on energy.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni received a group led by Vice President of Sinohydro Corporation Yang Yi Xin on Monday as part of the negotiations, according to a late-morning statement from Museveni’s office.

The project, according to the statement, will entail building a new substation and expanding two existing ones in addition to building a 138-kilometre high-voltage transmission line to provide power to South Sudan.

“We are very much willing to help develop this project with the required finance if needed,” Xin was quoted as telling the president.

The statement stated that Museveni endorsed Sinohydro’s proposal to carry out the project. Uganda and South Sudan inked a power sales deal in June of last year, enabling Uganda to sell electricity to South Sudan.

To enable Uganda to export electricity to South Sudan, the two nations inked a power sales deal in June of last year. The Chinese firm is completing a $1.5 billion, 600-megawatt hydropower project on the River Nile in Northern Uganda that is meant to be the source for electricity exports to South Sudan.