Tanzania Investment Center Streamlines Licensing

According to a report by the Guardian earlier this month, the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) has finished streamlining the procedures that are required in order to obtain single licensing in business.

As it currently stands, the licensing process is long and involves many days and a lot of paper work, both of which have proven to be distractions for many investors.

Based on the new procedure, the number of days that investors will spend processing their licenses will decrease and a single document will serve as the license for many businesses.

In addition, under the new arrangement the TIC will act as a one-stop center for the investors who have completed their operation procedures in the sense that the licenses for various businesses will be issued as a single document.

In an exclusive interview with The Guardian, Emanuel Ole Naiko, the Executive Director for the TIC, indicated that preparation for a new law to enforce the procedures has been completed and is expected to begin taking effect very soon.

Mr. Ole Naiko went on to explain that these changes in the law are expected to not only simplify investment activities, but to also reduce the amount of time that is spent applying for investment.

“The new changes will usher in a positive impact in the country investment climate,” he said, “The lengthy list of licenses presently required for an investor to put his money in the country has been a huge burden and attracts corruption.”

According to the 2006 Investment Report, bureaucracy and corruption are the critical areas of concern for the country and the issuing of multiple licenses is considered to be a contributing factor to both vices.

To this end, Mr. Ole Naiko is reported as having said that the new arrangement will help the country move in the direction of eliminating the bureaucracy in the business licensing process.

In addition, the Executive Director explained that, because of the dissatisfaction that had been expressed by investors as a result of the long list of required procedures, the government is currently looking to improve the country’s overall business environment.

Mr. Ole Naiko went on to indicate that the center is also preparing to assist the government with its Agriculture First campaign by working in collaboration with the Ministry for Agriculture and Food Security and with the private sector in an effort to revamp Tanzania farming on a large scale.

In order to achieve this, Mr. Ole Naiko explained that a possible motivator for investors could be the provision of them tax holidays, and went on to indicate that the TIC had already reached preliminary agreements with The Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and South Africa, among others, to bring agricultural investors into the country.

“We have to direct our efforts to agriculture because it is one area that contributes tremendously to employment, besides immensely promoting economic growth,” said the Executive Director.