Tanzania now waking up, envisaging to establish own investments in overseas countries.
Tanzania is finally pondering the idea of empowering local parastatals and public corporations to transcend borders and invest in the neighboring countries as well as to overseas.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan will be leading a roundtable discussion with heads of public institutions, companies and organizations in Arusha to come up with strategies of expanding the country’s economic ventures beyond borders.
Speaking here, the Treasury Registrar Nehemia Mchechu explained that Tanzania was also working to come up with a dedicated investment fund to aid public companies with the required capitals for international investments.
According to Mchechu, the government invests over 76 trillion/- into 248 public institutions and other state agencies and there is the need to give them wings for raking in profits not only from internal ventures but also internationally.
Mchechu pointed out that the head of state will lead the dialogue which aims at ensuring Tanzania takes the economic helm in Eastern Africa and later Sub-Sahara as well as globally.
He pointed out that all foreign firms investing in Tanzania are usually owned by governments of their countries of origin and therefore Dar needs to do the same when forging new economic grounds overseas.
According to the Tanzania Investment Center (TIC)’s recent report, the top five leading sources of Foreign Direct Investment to Tanzania are China, the United States, Mauritius, Spain, and India.
Foreign Direct Invest (FDI) to Tanzania were drawn mostly to commercial buildings, manufacturing, and transportation sectors.
“But while we are working to empower public entities to start investing abroad, the government is hatching new initiatives to give a push to other local parastatals in the country in realizing profits as well as paying dividends as many of them were still operating on losses,” stated Mchechu.
This new investment drive will be realized in a period of three years.
“And we are seeing improvements because the numbers of public firms that have settled their dividends have increased from 109 to 145 institutions,” said the Registrar of treasury.
In order to strengthen other firms, because his department targets to support between 30 and 40 parastatals annually so that they may also become profitable.
Mchechu said each public institution must have recurrent surveys and reviews of performance after every three years.
So far, the only public company from Tanzania which has been venturing out for investments beyond borders, is the CRDB Group a banking entity which is already operating in Burundi and DR Congo.
The Group also which envisages to expand to Zambia and Uganda in the near future.