Tanzanian Officials Visit India to Learn from PPP Success and Attract Investments in Infrastructure

In September 2024, the Executive Director of Tanzania’s Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) Center David Kafulila, and Tanzanian officials visited the PPP Center in India to gather insights on India’s successful PPP implementation and engage potential investors.

This was revealed on 4^th October 2024 by David Kafulila during a conversation with Tanzaniainvest.

Mr. Kafulila emphasized: “The visit was organized to learn from India’s PPP Center, as the concept is relatively new in Tanzania. The Tanzanian PPP Center was established in April this year and India has vast experience in PPPs, and we wanted to understand how they manage their projects.”

Kafulila added that during the visit to India, the Tanzanian delegation met with several prominent companies including, Tampa, GMR, and PPP consultants to explore investment in the country’s aviation sector.

The aim was to leverage Tanzania’s strategic position as a gateway to Africa and boost its aviation infrastructure, which is potentially an entry point to Eastern Africa.

In another development concerning PPPs, Adani Group from India and Gridworks from the UK have presented expressions of interest in investing in Tanzania’s power transmission infrastructure with US$ 900 million and US$ 300 million respectively.

“We are rich in experience in power generation through Independent Power Producers (IPPs). This is a positive sign for our PPP sector particularly in power transmission an area where we don’t have much experience,” Kafulila explained.

Tanzania’s Public-Private Partnerships

According to the Tanzania Implementation Strategy for The National PPP Policy (2009) for the 2021/22 – 2025/26 period, the Government of Tanzania acknowledges that the use of Public-Private partnerships (PPPs) for implementing critical social and economic infrastructure is on the rise globally, and PPPs play an increasingly important role in socio-economic development.

Notable PPP projects implemented in Tanzania include the five-year concession for Nyerere International Airport to Swissco and a 25-year concession for Kilimanjaro International Airport to Kilimanjaro Airports Development Company (KADCO) in 1998.

In the energy sector, a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) was signed in 1995 between Independent Power Tanzania (IPTL) and the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO).

In June 2023, the Tanzanian government passed the proposed changes to the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Act of 2023. The amendments address various challenges encountered in the implementation of PPPs in Tanzania including the lack of provisions for private sector partners to bring disputes before international courts for resolution.