Improvements to Tanzania Investment Climate Planned

According to a recent report in the Daily News, Tanzania investment practices are currently not meeting international standards, however, government officials met earlier this week in Dar es Salaam in order to address the growing concern from its international supporters as well as to discuss possible solutions to the problem and to begin working out the specifics of a plan to improve the overall experience of investors in the country.

The Tanzania Prime Minister, Mizengo Pinda, who spoke to the permanent secretaries and their deputies at the meeting, said that the country has been falling in international investment rankings because of the current Tanzania business and investment climate.

According to Mr. Pinda, Tanzania ranked 124th in its international investment standards last year, however, since then, it has fallen to 127th.

Mr. Pinda went on to say that the reason for this fall is due, in part, to the amount of time that is typically required to register new companies and to issue building permits in addition to the complicated procedures that are required in order to pay taxes in the country.

With this in mind, the Government has said that it will soon begin to implement a plan that was created and designed in order to encourage the execution of proper business techniques and to improve investment conditions within the country, which will ultimately help the country achieve a higher ranking in international investment standards.

Mr. Pinda cautioned government officials in Dar es Salaam, telling them that officials from several supporting countries and organizations – such as the Ambassador for the Netherlands, the British High Commissioner and the World Bank – have also expressed concern about the current investment environment in Tanzania.

According to Mr. Pinda, these supporters have indicated that they feel that it is has become necessary for Tanzania to create a more effective and stable business and investment climate as soon as possible.

In order to address this concern, Mr. Pinda said that the government has already begun a project to establish a special task force that will be assigned the project of promoting growth and creating favorable conditions for potential investors in the private sector.

Mr. Pinda suggested to the officials that, while they continue working on establishing a qualified task force, they look at and follow the examples of the African and non-African countries who have already established successful investment climates, including the countries of Mauritius, Botswana, Namibia, and Kenya as far as African countries are concerned and Singapore, New Zealand, the United States, Hong Kong, Denmark, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia and Norway elsewhere in the world.