Tanzania’s landscapes are rich with vital mineral deposits which today, thanks to the country’s key mining industry, is the 4th largest gold producer in Africa. With an abundance of minerals and natural resources such as gold, diamonds, gemstones, coal and natural gas at its disposal, the country’s economy has grown rapidly in line with mining operations to retrieve these resources. Therefore, mining operations in 2020 accounted for roughly 7% of Tanzania’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures, highlighting the prominent role the mineral sector plays in sustaining the country’s economy alongside the energy sector.
As such a prominent industry bringing vital investment to the country, the President of the United Republic of Tanzania established the Ministry of Minerals as its own entity to promote, regulate and support the mineral sector to maintain its prominent role within the country in 2017. The United Republic of Tanzania’s Ministry of Mineral’s role will now be to formulate and monitor the implementation of mining policies, mine, geophysical and geological surveys, and mining commission affairs. In addition, the Ministry will work to bring value to the mining industry through local content, small-scale mining development, performance improvement, and cooperation with other ministerial departments, agencies, stakeholders, programmes, and projects. This vast role as a governmental body continues to provide the ministry with a stellar reputation for its management of these resources which provide substantial contributions to the national economy and the well-being of Tanzanians thanks to employment opportunities.
Therefore, it is the Ministry of Minerals’ mission to effectively manage Tanzania’s mineral resources through sound policy and legal frameworks to play a vital role in bringing investment to the country and its mining industry. A crucial way that these investments are achieved is through networking to show the geological and infrastructural potential of a region to make investing in mining operations more attractive. Just last month Tanzania attended South Africa’s Mining Indaba Conference in collaboration with the Tanzania Chamber of Mines, which is one of the largest conferences in the sector. The Conference annually brings together about 900 key investors, 40 sectorial institutions and roughly 1000 executives from large companies. The conference serves as a platform for participating countries and organisations to build and strengthen their relationships and business networks across the international mining sector. The conferences provide an essential opportunity for organisations, such as the Ministry of Minerals to seek investment capital, learn about technological advancements in the sector, form partnerships for trade, and continue to share experiences to learn more about the sustainable management and development of the mining industry across Africa.
The Ministry of Minerals’ main focus at the conference was on advancing investment in mining to help accelerate prosperity for the country. This focus remains consistent with the government of Tanzania’s commitments set out in its ‘Vision 2030’ project which aims to facilitate more geoscientific surveys to uncover the country’s mineral potential. Therefore, a large part of the Ministry’s time at the conference was spent promoting investment opportunities in the country’s mining sector in things such as exploration, extraction, and value-added activities. The government-owned Ministry hopes the conference will lead to further investment over the coming year. The conference was also the first time it has collaborated with the private sector to facilitate its participation at the conference. For this, the Ministry thanked its sponsors, which include some of the world’s leading mining companies such as Barrick Gold, Anglo Gold Ashanti, Tembo Nickel, Shanta Gold, TRX Gold, Mantra Tanzania, Petra Diamonds, Orica, City Engineering and AUMS.
However, a key part of the Ministry of Mineral’s operations outside of the private sector is through strong relationships and partnerships with other vital mining industries within Africa. An example of this keen commitment to partnering with other governmental operations was seen in July last year when the United Republic of Tanzania Ministry of Minerals signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Water, Energy and Minerals of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar. This agreement continues the two ministries’ cooperation towards making key developments and investments in the relevant mining sectors to bring continuous benefits for both parties. Therefore, the Ministry’s role across the region’s mining sector is to ensure that it continues to bring vital investment that will help shape the future of the country and its citizens for the future through economic development and plentiful job creation.
As we have seen, the United Republic of Tanzania Ministry of Minerals highlights the crucial value that the mining industry provides to the country, and so throughout its operations, it works to ensure that this value continues to expand and with it comes significant investment for Tanzania. With this investment, Tanzanian mining can continue to support and uplift the country by ensuring that the regulation, promotion and investment into the country’s natural mineral resources remains steady for future generations.
