Saudis in Tanzania to explore investment opportunities

Dar es Salaam. A delegation of investors from Saudi Arabia is currently in Tanzania seeking investment opportunities in agriculture, water and environment sectors.

Led by Tanzania’s ambassador to Saudi Arabia Ally Mwadini, the delegation – which was yesterday hosted by the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) – comes at a time when the government is aggressively pushing its economic diplomacy agenda.

It also comes at a time when the government is investing massively in irrigation, farm inputs, fisheries and livestock among others to stimulate local production of agricultural products and raise exports.

“The delegation is informed by the fact that we have complementary products and commodities which we can exchange in the areas of agriculture, livestock, fisheries and aquaculture,” said Ambassador Mwadini.

He said the group trip was a result of a recent visit by Tanzania’s Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation minister Liberata Mulamula in Saudi Arabia where she stressed the need to strengthen bilateral ties between Tanzania and Saudi Arabia through investment and trade.

Currently, Tanzania is home to 13 registered projects from Saudi Arabia. The projects have brought a total capital of about $55.24 million, according to TIC’s investment promotion director Revocatus Rasheli.

Mr Rasheli said the government, through TIC, would be in full support of any future investment from the Saudis, including those who would wish to invest in other sectors such as natural gas production, woodland, tourism, finance and manufacturing.

The 13 projects, he said, have created about 1,000 jobs for Tanzanians.

A senior economist from the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development, Ms Danietta Tindamanyire, told the Saudis that Tanzania offered several opportunities in the fisheries and livestock sectors, including in areas of constructing modern abattoirs for domestic and export markets as well as in meat processing plants.

“There are nine meat processing plants operating in Tanzania at the moment. To-date the amount of meat processed in the country is less than two percent of the produced quantity,” she said.

She said investors could also consider investing in the supply of inputs, noting that Tanzania’s dairy animals produce little milk than their genetic potential due lack of important inputs.

“Other opportunities are in the installing of large scale processing plants in strategic dairy farming locations; establishing factories for manufacturing of dairy ingredients such as stabilizers, thickeners and starter cultures among others as well as tanneries for leather production,” said Ms Tindamanyire.

Another expert from the ministry, Dr Hamisi Nikuli, said potential investment opportunities in the fishing sub-sector include deep sea fishing, processing facilities, fish feed facilities for aquaculture industry.

“There are also opportunities to establish a seaweed processing plant, a venture for fishing boat building and repair as well as cold storage facilities,” said Dr Nikuli.