Energy
and Minerals Minister Prof Sospeter Muhongo assured investors the
ministry was well organised to meet the demand and foster the country’s
economic growth.
Giving his remarks at the climax of the
Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF) yesterday at the Mwalimu
JK Nyerere Trade Fair grounds, Mr Muhongo said the government resolved
this year to commit over trill/- to improve access to electricity in
rural communities across the country.
With the discovery of natural gas, now
standing at 57.25tcf, the minister said Tanzania is well placed to
generate enough energy to supply industrial and home demands.
“Our target is to be a middle income
country by 2025, this can only be possible with access to reliable and
affordable power supply,” he said. “We will generate power from all
sources, including natural gas, wind, solar and hydropower.” He told the
delegates that the average power per capita stood at 130 units per
annum, an equivalent of 10 units per month.
This is why we’re still poor, he noted,
saying that the government focus is to increase power supply to
3000units per annum. Mr Muhongo said limited access to electricity
especially in remote areas was slowing trade and investment.
He said the government through Rural
Energy Agency (REA) was implementing a comprehensive strategy by
connecting households at a relatively affordable price of 27,000/-.
Giving details, the energy and minerals minister highlighted that 1tcf
of natural gas can generate more than 5000mw.
Prof Muhongo went on to note that
limited investments had subjected the nation to highest burden of
imported goods than exported goods.
Despite that, Foreign Direct Investment
rose to 2.14billion US dollars in 2014 from 1.8billion US dollars in
2012, saying that the nation needs more direct export than import to
expand.
He noted that the government is expected
to commit the largest investment in the continent to build a liquefied
natural gas LNG at a tune of 30billion US dollars and another largest
investment of fertiliser in Lindi at a total cost of about 1.5billion UD
dollars.
But to improve business investment, the
minister challenged the Trade, Industry and Investment ministry to scale
down business set procedures to three from nine for the country to
compete at the global arena.
Apparently, he said the ministry has to
reduce business waiting time which includes business registration from
26 days to five days. World Bank reported early this year that Tanzania
is ranked at 139 in terms of trade environment and according to the
minister, the nation was at risk of losing investors.
“We’re doing great in investor’s
protection index with five points similar to Germany, but poor on
transaction transparency with three points lower than 8 points in US,”
he observed.
Permanent Secretary (PS) in the ministry
of Trade, Industry and Investment Prof Adolf Mkenda said participation
of local companies in the fair increased to 2,300 from 2,000 and foreign
companies were 30 from 25 of last year.
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