Dar es Salaam. A trade mission of 100 Chinese investors and businesspeople is exploring partnership opportunities in Tanzania’s mining, agriculture and manufacturing sectors.
The Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) Director of Investment Facilitation, Mr Muftah Bunini, announced this during a forum on China-Tanzania cooperation in trade, investment, and development.
Speaking during the event, Mr Bunini said the Chinese are interested in investing in the sectors of manufacturing, agriculture, and infrastructure.
“Some are looking for advice on tax issues, clearing and forwarding procedures, and partnerships. They also require cooperation from law firms, therefore Tanzanians must be prepared to work with them,” he said.
Mr Bunini emphasised that Tanzania will use the forum to highlight the potential that exists there and how they can work together to attract investment. He pointed out that China was among the top 10 nations that made significant investments between 1997 and December 2023.
“China leads with $11 billion worth of projects in Tanzania that have created at least 144,726 jobs,” he said.
According to him, Chinese investors continue to come to the country, and TIC, in collaboration with the Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA) and the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF), provides guidance and opportunities available in the country.
“This year, there will be talks with China on agriculture. They expect many investors to come and explore opportunities for further investment,” he said.
For his part, EPZA director general, Mr Charles Itembe, said the forum will connect businessmen from China and Tanzania.
“To draw in investors and export our goods, the government has been marketing them. China has made investments in EPZA, where about 35 businesses are registered. Capital of about $2 million has been registered through EPZA for mining, agro-processing and manufacturing,” he said.
He noted that the flow of investments is significant due to the incentives provided and improvements made with over 20,000 jobs created.
“Our market, which has a population of over 60 million and access to the SADC and AfCFTA markets, is large enough to draw investment. China’s access to Tanzania is therefore significant,” he said.
Furthermore, he said Tanzania also benefits from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) duty-free and UK market access, all of which are areas where China’s investment will lead to market access and job creation.
The delegation has come to the nation to look into business potential in a variety of industries, including agriculture, according to Mr Feng Zhenyu, the vice chairman of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce.
“This will help Tanzania create a lot of job opportunities, attract Chinese investors, and increase revenue collection through attracted investments,” he stated.
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Tanzania Declares End of Marburg Virus Disease Outbreak
Tanzania today declared the end of Marburg virus disease outbreak after recording no new cases over 42 days since the death of the last confirmed case on 28 January 2025.
The outbreak, in which two confirmed and eight probable cases were recorded (all deceased), was the second the country has experienced. Both this outbreak, which was declared on 20 January 2025, and the one in 2023 occurred in the north-eastern Kagera region.
In response to the latest outbreak, Tanzania’s health authorities set up coordination and response systems, with support from World Health Organization (WHO) and partners, at the national and regional levels and reinforced control measures to swiftly detect cases, enhance clinical care, infection prevention as well as strengthen collaboration with communities to raise awareness and help curb further spread of the virus.
Growing expertise in public health emergency response in the African region has been crucial in mounting effective outbreak control measures. Drawing on experience from the response to the 2023 Marburg virus disease outbreak, WHO worked closely with Tanzanian health authorities to rapidly scale up key measures such as disease surveillance and trained more than 1000 frontline health workers in contact tracing, clinical care and public health risk communication. The Organization also delivered over five tonnes of essential medical supplies and equipment.
“The dedication of frontline health workers and the efforts of the national authorities and our partners have paid off,” said Dr Charles Sagoe-Moses, WHO Representative in Tanzania. “While the outbreak has been declared over, we remain vigilant to respond swiftly if any cases are detected and are supporting ongoing efforts to provide psychosocial care to families affected by the outbreak.”
Building on the momentum during the acute phase of the outbreak response, measures have been put in place to reinforce the capacity of local health facilities to respond to potential future outbreaks. WHO and partners are procuring additional laboratory supplies and other equipment for disease detection and surveillance and other critical services.
Marburg virus disease is highly virulent and causes haemorrhagic fever. It belongs to the same family as the virus that causes Ebola virus disease. Illness caused by Marburg virus begins abruptly. Patients present with high fever, severe headache and severe malaise. They may develop severe haemorrhagic symptoms within seven days.
In the African region, previous outbreaks and sporadic cases have been reported in Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ghana, Kenya, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda.
Source: allafrica.com
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Britam half-year net profit hits Sh2bn on higher investment income
Insurer and financial services provider Britam posted a 22.5 percent jump in net earnings for the half-year ended June 2024, to Sh2 billion, buoyed by increased investment income.
The rise in half-year net profit from Sh1.64 billion posted in a similar period last year came on the back of net investment income rising 2.5 times to Sh13.27 billion from Sh5.3 billion.
“We are confident in the growth and performance trend that Britam has achieved, supported by its subsidiaries in Kenya and the region. Our business is expanding its revenue base while effectively managing costs,” Britam Chief Executive Officer Tom Gitogo said.
“Our customer-centric approach is fueling growth in our customer base and product uptake, particularly through micro-insurance, partnerships, and digital channels.”
The investment income growth was fueled by interest and dividend income rising 34 percent to Sh9.1 billion, which the insurer attributed to growth in revenue and the gains from the realignment of the group’s investment portfolio.
Britam also booked a Sh3.79 billion gain on financial assets at a fair value, compared with a Sh1.8 billion loss posted in a similar period last year.
The increased investment income helped offset the 12.7 percent decline in net insurance service result to Sh2.13 billion in the wake of claims paid out rising at a faster pace than that of premiums received.
Britam said insurance revenue, which is money from written premiums, increased to Sh17.8 billion from Sh16.6 billion, primarily driven by growth in the Kenya insurance business and regional general insurance businesses, which contributed 30 percent of the revenue.
The group has a presence in seven countries in Africa namely Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, South Sudan, Mozambique, and Malawi.
Britam’s insurance service expense hit Sh13.6 billion from Sh11.3 billion, while net insurance finance expenses rose 2.6 times to Sh12.3 billion during the same period.
“Net insurance finance expenses increased mainly due to growth in interest cost for the deposit administration business driven by better investment performance. This has also been impacted by a decline in the yield curve, which has led to an increase in the insurance contract liabilities. The increase has been offset by a matching increase in fair value gain on assets,” said Britam.
Britam’s growth in profit is in line with that of other Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed insurers, which have seen a rise in profits.
Jubilee Holdings net profit in the six months increased by 22.7 percent to Sh2.5 billion on increased income from insurance, helping the insurer maintain Sh2 per share interim dividend.
CIC Insurance Group posted a 0.64 percent rise in net profit to Sh709.99 million in the same period as net earnings of Liberty Kenya nearly tripled to Sh632 million from Sh213 million, while Sanlam Kenya emerged from a loss to post a Sh282.2 million net profit.
