Tanzania bets on value addition to woo East African mining investors
Tanzanian minister of Minerals Anthony Mavunde. PHOTO/HANDOUT
What you need to know:
- Regional governments are moving to harmonize mining laws, promote processing hubs, and support community-based cooperatives to drive local employment and equitable revenue sharing.
Tanzania is rolling out sweeping reforms to its mining sector in a bid to attract Ugandan and other regional investors, vowing to turn its vast mineral wealth into an engine of industrial growth and regional integration.
Backed by legislative changes, digital tools, and an ambitious 2025/26 strategy, Tanzania’s Ministry of Minerals has unveiled a reform package that reads more like a business prospectus than a bureaucratic budget document.
Targeting over 40 critical and strategic minerals, including lithium, cobalt, nickel, graphite, and rare earth elements—the plan positions Tanzania as a key player in the global energy transition.
At the heart of the reform is a strict beneficiation policy: no medium- or large-scale mining licenses will be granted without a clear plan for local value addition.
“All raw minerals must be processed on Tanzanian soil,” Tanzanian Minister of Minerals Anthony Mavunde told Monitor.
He added: “There is room not just for extractive investment, but for transformative partnerships that link mining to industry, agriculture, and finance.”
To enhance transparency and curb smuggling, the government will pilot helmet-mounted surveillance cameras for inspectors in Mirerani, home to the world’s only tanzanite mines.
A real-time mineral oversight system, linked to national databases, is also being developed to monitor trade flows, environmental compliance, safety standards, and tax revenues.
The reforms are also set to formalize small-scale miners, many of whom are women, youth, and people with disabilities. Mapped mining plots will be allocated alongside modern processing centers and regional equipment rental hubs, underpinned by public-private partnerships.
The goal is to reduce informality, improve environmental management, and build out an ecosystem of support services—from geological consulting to microfinance and safety gear production.
Tanzania’s Mining Vision 2030 calls for high-resolution geoscientific surveys to map at least 50% of the country, up from the current 16%, in a bid to derisk exploration and boost investor confidence.
The plan also promotes linkages with other sectors, such as water, construction, tourism, and transport, to ensure mining contributes to broader national development.
“East African capital must back East African resources,” Mavunde told Daily Monitor on Tuesday. “We welcome Ugandan firms with open arms—to co-build, co-refine, and co-own the future of African mining,” he added.
For decades, East African countries exported raw minerals with little local value addition, losing out on jobs, industrial development, and stronger leverage in global markets.
That trend is now shifting. Regional governments are moving to harmonize mining laws, promote processing hubs, and support community-based cooperatives to drive local employment and equitable revenue sharing.
In late 2024, mineral ministries from Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania reaffirmed their commitment to a common vision: Ensuring the region’s mineral wealth benefits citizens and fuels sustainable growth.
Achieving that vision, however, will require robust coordination, strong policy enforcement, and investor-friendly conditions across borders.
