UK-Tanzania Trade & Investment Summit

On behalf of the UK Foreign Office and UKTI, DMA hosted a delegation of senior Tanzanian Ministers, led by President Dr Jakaya Kikwete, to meet and network with some 200 businesspersons and investors in the Locarno Room at the Foreign Office.

Introduced by the UK Minister for Africa, Mark Simmonds, who highlighted the strong historic, political and economic ties between Tanzania and the UK, President Kikwete, in a very upbeat speech outlined the key areas in which Tanzania is looking for further investment - particularly from the UK which is its largest investment partner.

In addition to the better known sectors such as agriculture, tourism and more recently oil and gas, the President reminded his audience about Tanzania’s wish to encourage investment in agribusiness, ICT (the fastest growing industry sector) transport infrastructure and mining, not simply gold and gemstones but coal, iron ore, nickel, feltspar, kaolin and soda ash.

The thrust of the President’s speech was further strengthened and developed by a series of short speeches from a senior panel, including the Ministers of Finance, Energy and Minerals, and Transport, and the Executive Directors of the Tanzania and Zanzibar Investment agencies. While accepting that many challenges remained, the panel pointed out that the efforts already made by the Government to establish more business friendly policies did reinforce the case for investors to consider Tanzania as a worthwhile investment destination, a view supported by several private sector companies which also spoke of their experiences investing and operating in Tanzania.

DMA will now be working with government, businesses and investors to help cement the interest created by today’s Forum and follow up on specific opportunities.