EFFORTS by President Samia Suluhu Hassan to promote Tanzania continue to pay off and witnessed some 19 USA companies readiness to explore investment opportunities in the country.
According to a statement issued on Tuesday the U.S Embassy in Dar es Salaam and the U.S Commercial Service, representative of the 19 companies will be among participants in a two-day fact-finding mission to Tanzania.
The fact-finding mission will be held from September 27th -28th this year, in Dar es Salaam and Zanzibar.
“It will feature 19 USA firms with significant operations or investment with a total market capitalization of over 1.6 trillion US dollars. The firms will be investigating trade and investment potential in Tanzania.
The mission is led by the USA Embassy in Dar es Salaam, in collaboration with the American Chambers of Commerce (“AmCham”) of Kenya, Tanzania and South Africa, and seeks to introduce American firms to the potentials offered by the Tanzanian markets.
According to Maxwell Okello, CEO, AmCham Kenya, “Our members are excited about the business potential and new opportunities opening up in Mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar in agribusiness, energy, healthcare, infrastructure, ICT, manufacturing and other industry sectors.
They’re seeking to better understand the market and how they can participate in the opportunities, whose mission is to provide an excellent avenue to gather insights and engage directly with relevant government and private sector stakeholders.
It’s also a great opportunity for both countries to explore ways to deepen their commercial ties and engagement which supports achievement of economic goals driving wealth and job creation.”
During this two-day tour, company representatives will interact with government of Tanzania/Zanzibar officials, receive US Embassy briefings, engage with Tanzanian private sector leaders, and receive insights from US firms operating in Tanzania.
Confirmed participants include Abbott Laboratories, Alliance One Tobacco Tanzania Limited, Baker Hughes, Becton Dickinson, Burn Manufacturing, Citi, Cisco, Coca-Cola, FAS Authentication, GE, Hid Global, Honeywell International Inc., Integrated Biometrics, Koko Networks, Parallel Wireless Inc, Procter & Gamble, Reinke S.A., Roche, and Wasoko.
The companies will be joined by representatives from the U.S. Agency for International Development, US Commercial Service Liaison to the AfDB, US Department of Commerce, U.S. Department of State, and the U.S. Trade Development Agency.
During his visit in the US in September last year, President Samia called on American members of the business council to increase their investments in Tanzania, since the latter has a market advantage to various regional blocs with a population of 1.3billion.
Apart from being a member of the East African Community (EAC), Tanzania is also subscribing to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Speaking during the US-Tanzania business council in New York, President Samia said the available statistics show that in 2019, Tanzania’s import from the US totaled 241 million US dollars, while its exports were recorded at 46 million US dollars.
President Samia said US businesspeople have so far invested a total of 5.55 billion US dollars to Tanzania, while the investments from the East African nation to the world’s economic giant stands at one million dollars.
In April this year, Tanzania and the US signed seven agreements for business projects worth 11.7tri/-, which are set to be implemented in the country by investors and companies from the United States of America.
The signing of the agreement was witnessed by President Samia, who was in the United States for a two-week official trip.
The deals are expected to create an estimated 301, 110 jobs in agriculture, tourism, trade and other sectors of the economy.