Minister touts Lake Zone’s investment potential

Mwanza. The Lake Zone has a huge potential for investments in animal feeds and cooking oil processing, a Cabinet minister said at the weekend, calling upon investors to utilise the chance.

Investment minister Angellah Kairuki said here at the weekend that the Lake Zone Regions of Kagera, Mara, Mwanza, Geita, Simiyu and Shinyanga were facing a growing shortage of animal feeds and cooking oil. Hence the need for investors to grab that as a business opportunity.

“Investors and businesspeople must fully exploit this opportunity by putting up industries,” she said.

Ms Kairuki was speaking during the winding up of a regional consultative council for Mwanza Region which brought together members from the public and private sectors to dialogue on issues that affect the growth of businesses in the area.

“The Lake Zone has the highest animal population in Tanzania. This means that animal feed is a huge business here which investors must grab,” she said.

She said the government would work towards improving the business environment for the general good of the economy.

With an economy that crossed the Sh10 trillion mark three years ago, Mwanza is only second to Dar es Salaam in terms of contributing massively to Tanzania’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Ms Kairuki said her ministry, through Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC), was prepared to nurture the growth of investments in Mwanza.

“Our plan is to do away with importing goods that can be locally manufactured,” she said.

The Mwanza meeting followed similar ones that were held in Mara, Simiyu and Shinyanya. Ms Kairuki was accompanied by seven deputy ministers.