Tanzania Positions Ports, Energy and Industrial Zones for Capital at the Global Africa Investment Summit

Tanzania has outlined priority sectors, including ports, logistics, energy, and industrial zones, to attract private and institutional capital through the Global Africa Investment Summit (GAIS).

The announcement was made in Dubai on 4th February 2026, on the sidelines of the World Governments Summit, where African leaders and global investors discussed mechanisms to mobilise long-term capital into the continent.

President Samia Suluhu Hassan stated that Tanzania is positioning itself to engage with GAIS as a long-term investment partner and that the country intends to use financing structures, including Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs), joint ventures, Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs), and blended finance models to mobilise capital while reducing pressure on public finances.

Three interlinked priority areas were identified, namely 1) ports, logistics, and regional trade leveraging Tanzania’s coastline and port network as a gateway to East and Central Africa, 2) energy and industrial zones to support manufacturing and value addition, and 3) positioning Tanzania as a regional production, logistics, and energy hub within the East African Community (EAC).

The President noted that flagship projects in hydropower, modern railways, ports and roads, together with Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and a One-Stop Investment Facilitation Centre, have contributed to improving the investment environment.

She said, “What investors seek today is not only opportunity, but trust — trust in institutions, policy consistency, and governments that honour commitments.”

She added that platforms such as GAIS enable Tanzania to move from fragmented project promotion towards structured collaboration aligned with national development priorities and investor expectations.

Speaking at the launch, Akinwumi Adesina, former President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), said Africa’s challenge is not the lack of assets but the absence of trusted structures connecting those assets to global capital.

He stated that GAIS aims to address bottlenecks, including weak structuring, fragmented governance, and high due diligence costs by focusing on scale, predictability, and long-term partnerships.

Global Africa Investment Summit

The Global Africa Investment Summit is a pan-African investment platform co-founded by the former President of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Founder and Executive Chair of APCO Worldwide, with the objective of mobilising long-term institutional capital into African economies.

The initiative is designed as market infrastructure rather than a traditional conference and aims to convert sovereign and public assets into bankable investment portfolios aligned with international governance and risk management standards.