Invest in agriculture, US business mission urged
THE Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office, Empowerment and Investment, Dr Mary Nagu, has urged US companies to invest in agriculture since Tanzania is blessed with over 43-million hectares of arable land.
Opening a meeting with the Minessota Business Community who are visiting the country, Dr Nagu said out of the hectares, one-million hectares is irrigable land.
“We welcome investors in commercial farming and agro-processing to consider Tanzania as their next investment destination and help us improve our production,” she said.
She said the country has conducive weather which allows for the growth of crops such as sugarcane, rice, wheat, coffee, tea and maize among others.
Through the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC), she said they will be supported on land acquisition, registration as well as facilitating them on establishing business in the country.
She encouraged the delegation to look into opportunities in value addition through establishment of processing and packaging facilities for agricultural crops for export and domestic market.
Nagu said they will enjoy the business environment as Tanzania is a gateway to six land locked countries in Eastern and Central Africa, thus being guaranteed of access to a market of more than 300-million people in Eastern and Southern Africa which the country enjoys trading arrangements.
She also advised them to consider in investing in assembling of modern farming machinery and implements to be available and affordable to customers.
Dr Nagu said they can also look into livestock, tourism, energy, oil and gas, manufacturing, ICT and social service development sectors as there are a good number of opportunities.
She said according to records, between 1990 to October 2013, TIC has registered 231 projects from USA with a total value of 1,056.89 million US dollars, which has created 50,927 jobs to Tanzanians.
Earlier, Minnesota Congressman, Keith Ellison said they have realised a number of investment opportunities and expressed his commitment to put up projects in various sectors.
