Glass products set for continental free market

Dar es Salaam. With only weeks remaining for Tanzania to come up with a list of products that would start to trade at the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA), manufacturers of glass products have shown their readiness to grab the chance.

This comes within one day since the government said it was getting an increasingly positive feedback from manufacturers of lubricants, horticultural and cement who want to get the ‘first mover advantage’ by putting their products on the AfCFTA market.

The Investment, Industry and Trade minister, Dr Ashatu Kijaji said during her visit of the Kioo Limited factory in Dar es Salaam yesterday that the government was optimistic that glass products would make it to the AfCFTA, starting July, this year.

“Tanzania is among the first eight countries that were given priority to send products to the market where among the first 10 products that will enter the market from July 2023 are coffee, marble and glass,” she said.

A senior official at the factory, whose name could not be immediately established, said his company was willing to introduce glass products in the AfCFTA market.

This, he said, was because the factory has the capacity to produce more than one million bottles per day which are enough for the local and international market. He however requested the government to ensure that the factory gets enough energy at affordable prices for it to remain competitive at the international scene.

“About 40 percent of the bottles are made from the remains of used bottles. People can collect the remains of used bottles in large quantities in order to facilitate the availability of raw materials for the production of these bottles and to take care of the environment,” he said.

In her remarks, Dr Kijaji urged Kioo Limited to continue producing the best quality glass products in large quantities so as to meet the requirements of the AfCFTA.

She also advised the factory to produce glass products that will be used for packaging by small scale entrepreneurs to enable them to withstand competition in business.

Dr Kijaji commended the company’s tremendous achievement to produce quality glass that meets standards for both local and international markets.

Kioo Limited makes glass using some available raw materials in the country such as sand, limestone, feldspar and soda ash from abroad at the moment.

Last year, Tanzania was one of the eight countries that were selected for the pilot project ‘the AfCFTA Initiative on Guided Trade trial’.

Other seven countries are Ghana, Kenya, Cameroon, Rwanda, Egypt, Mauritius and Tunisia. To date, some 100 traders from Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya Egypt, Mauritius, and Rwanda are trading under the AfCFTA, whose trading started officially on January 1 last year, according to the government’s document availed to The Citizen last week.

Products that have been sold so far under the arrangement, according to the document, are tiles, tea, coffee, battery, pasta, chicken and processed meat.

Tanzania has set itself March, 2023 as deadline for manufacturers to submit their views on the products that are to be traded under the AfCFTA arrangement with effect from July this year.