Between 2020 and 2024, Tanzania experienced a remarkable surge in investment activities, signaling growing confidence in the country's economic prospects. The number of projects registered by the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) increased from 207 in 2020 to 901 in 2024 — a 335% growth over five years. At the same time, total capital investment rose sharply from $1.1 billion to $9.3 billion, marking a 745% increase. Job creation linked to these projects also soared by 1,121%, with employment opportunities growing from 17,385 in 2020 to 212,293 in 2024. This rapid expansion reflects both domestic and foreign investor confidence, with domestic projects growing by 402%, foreign projects by 399%, and joint ventures by 184%. Key sectors like manufacturing, agriculture, commercial real estate, transportation, and telecommunications attracted the largest share of capital and created substantial jobs, demonstrating Tanzania’s ongoing transformation into a vibrant investment hub.

Key Figures:

• Total Projects: Increased from 207 (2020) to 901 (2024) — +335% growth.
• Domestic Projects: Increased from 64 (2020) to 321 (2024) — +402% growth.
• Foreign Projects: Increased from 81 (2020) to 404 (2024) — +399% growth.
• Joint Venture Projects: Increased from 62 (2020) to 176 (2024) — +184% growth.
• Capital Investment: Rose from $1.1 billion (2020) to $9.3 billion (2024) — +745% growth.
• Jobs Created: Rose from 17,385 (2020) to 212,293 (2024) — +1,121% growth.
• Top Investment Sectors by Capital (2024): Manufacturing ($2.19 billion), Agriculture ($1.89 billion), Commercial Buildings ($788.86 million).
• Top Sources of FDI (2024): China ($1.05 billion), Vietnam ($783.4 million), Mauritius ($773.96 million).
• Top Region by Investment (2024): Dar es Salaam with $4.44 billion across 356 projects and 107,962 jobs.

Project Registration Trends (2020-2024)

Project Ownership in 2024

• Foreign ownership: 44.8% (compared to 40.7% in 2023)
• Joint ventures: 19.6% (compared to 24.7% in 2023)
• Domestic ownership: 35.6% (compared to 34.6% in 2023)

Sectoral Analysis of Projects (January-December 2024)

Expansion Projects (January-December 2024)

Total expansion projects: 51 projects across various sectors.

Sectors by Project Count

Total projects: 901 The document doesn't provide the exact number for each sector, but visually it appears manufacturing has the highest number of projects, followed by commercial buildings and services.

Jobs Created by Sector (January-December 2024)

Total jobs: 212,293 Top sectors for job creation:

1. Commercial Building: approximately 125,760 jobs
2. Manufacturing: approximately 45,883 jobs
3. Economic Infrastructure: approximately 18,780 jobs
4. Transportation: approximately 7,475 jobs
5. Tourism: approximately 6,949 jobs

Capital Investment by Sector (January-December 2024)

Total investment: $9.3 billion Top sectors receiving investment:

1. Manufacturing: approximately $2.19 billion
2. Agriculture: approximately $1.89 billion
3. Commercial Building: approximately $788.86 million
4. Transportation: approximately $706.39 million
5. Telecommunication: approximately $651.92 million

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)

Top 5 Sources of FDI in 2024

1. China: $1,053.46 million
2. Vietnam: $783.4 million
3. Mauritius: $773.96 million
4. UAE: $702.52 million
5. United Kingdom: $394.30 million

Top 5 Sources of FDI in 2023

1. China: $2,111.41 million
2. India: $190.53 million
3. Singapore: $143.29 million
4. Hong Kong: $135 million
5. Germany: $131.25 million

Permits, Licenses and Approvals (2024 vs 2023)

The document shows a significant increase in permits, licenses, and approvals issued in 2024 compared to 2023, though the exact numbers aren't clearly visible in the document. The figure shows increases across multiple institutions including Immigration (residence permits), Labor Office (work permits), TRA (approved lists of exemptions), NIDA (legal identity card/NIN), TIC (certificate of incentives), and Ministry of Lands (derivative rights).

Top 10 Regional Distribution (by Capital Investment)

1. Dar es Salaam: 356 projects, 107,962 jobs, $4,440.97 million capital
2. Pwani: 166 projects, 49,784 jobs, $1,243.87 million capital
3. Ruvuma: 11 projects, 5,735 jobs, $597.64 million capital
4. Mwanza: 37 projects, 4,395 jobs, $581.11 million capital
5. Morogoro: 22 projects, 11,556 jobs, $446.17 million capital
6. Shinyanga: 16 projects, 1,121 jobs, $415.21 million capital
7. Arusha: 64 projects, 6,657 jobs, $213.06 million capital
8. Dodoma: 47 projects, 6,540 jobs, $182.36 million capital
9. Kigoma: 8 projects, 774 jobs, $155.62 million capital
10. Tanga: 23 projects, 1,315 jobs, $137.66 million capital

This analysis shows Tanzania's continued growth in investment across various sectors and regions, with significant increases in both domestic and foreign investments over the five-year period.

Trend Analysis of TIC Investment Projects (2020–2024):

1. Massive Growth in Investment Activity

• Project registrations rose 335% (from 207 to 901 projects).
• Strong surges in 2023 (+79%) and 2024 (+71%) especially indicate a sharp acceleration in interest.
• This suggests that Tanzania became a significantly more attractive investment destination over this period — possibly due to government reforms, better investment climate, infrastructure development, or global shifts.

2. Balanced Growth Between Domestic and Foreign Investments

• Domestic projects grew 402%, while foreign projects grew 399%.
• This shows that local investors are increasingly active, not just foreign investors — a positive signal of internal economic confidence and private sector development.

3. Joint Ventures Growing, But More Slowly

• Joint ventures increased 184%, slower compared to domestic and foreign projects.
• This may suggest a need to further encourage partnerships between Tanzanian and foreign investors.

4. Exceptional Job Creation

• Jobs created rose from 17,385 in 2020 to 212,293 in 2024 — a 1,121% increase.
• Shows investment projects are not just rising numerically, but also becoming larger and more labor-intensive, especially in sectors like commercial building and manufacturing.

5. Sharp Increase in Capital Investment

• Capital investment jumped from $1.1 billion to $9.3 billion (+745%).
• This signals larger-scale projects, and higher-value industries being targeted (not just quantity of projects but also quality/size).

6. Sectoral Insights

• Manufacturing is the top sector by project count and by capital investment ($2.19 billion).
• Commercial building dominates in job creation (125,760 jobs) but not necessarily in capital.
• Agriculture attracted the second-highest investment ($1.89 billion), reflecting efforts to modernize and commercialize the sector.
• Transportation and Telecommunications are emerging sectors — critical for logistics and digital economy growth.

7. Changes in Project Ownership Structure

• Foreign ownership increased slightly from 40.7% (2023) to 44.8% (2024).
• Domestic ownership also rose slightly, while joint ventures declined, suggesting investors may increasingly prefer to go solo rather than partner.

8. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Dynamics

• China remains the leading source of FDI in 2023 and 2024, though its FDI declined from $2.1 billion (2023) to $1.05 billion (2024).
• New strong entries in 2024 include Vietnam, Mauritius, and UAE — indicating diversification of Tanzania’s FDI sources.
• Shows shifting global investment patterns towards Tanzania.

9. Administrative Improvements

• A significant increase in permits, licenses, and approvals in 2024 suggests:
  • Greater activity and support from regulatory agencies.
  • Possibly better ease of doing business.
  • Tanzania’s institutions are responding to investment growth with better service delivery.

10. Regional Distribution

• Dar es Salaam and Pwani regions dominate in project number, job creation, and capital — but other regions like Ruvuma and Mwanza also attract significant investments.
• This suggests some beginning of investment decentralization, though still heavily urban/concentrated.

In Summary:

• Tanzania’s investment climate significantly improved from 2020–2024, characterized by:
  • Higher number, size, and diversity of projects.
  • Increased domestic investor participation.
  • Massive job creation.
  • Sectoral diversification.
  • Geographic spreading (still early but visible).
• Policy reforms, institutional strengthening, infrastructure improvements, and targeted promotion efforts likely played key roles.

Tanzania Investment Centre - Key Figures 2020-2024

Project Ownership Distribution (%)

Top 5 Sectors by Job Creation (2024)

Top 5 Sectors by Capital Investment (2024)

Top 5 Sources of FDI

Top 10 Regional Distribution (2024)

Macroeconomic Indicators (2024)

The introduction of new US reciprocal tariffs in 2025, often referred to as Trump tariffs, is reshaping global trade patterns, creating mixed impacts for Africa and Tanzania. According to the WTO Global Trade Outlook and Statistics 2025, Africa’s merchandise exports are expected to grow by +0.6% in 2025, slightly higher than previous forecasts, as US buyers seek new suppliers outside China. Least-developed countries, including Tanzania, are projected to benefit from this trade diversion, with export growth for LDCs rising to +4.8%. However, Africa’s services exports, which include key sectors like transport and tourism, are expected to contract by -1.6%, reversing earlier positive expectations. For Tanzania, opportunities lie in expanding agricultural, textile, and gold exports, but risks remain in its tourism and logistics sectors. Despite these challenges, Africa's overall GDP impact is minimal, with projected growth hovering around 0.0% change, reflecting resilience but also vulnerability to further global trade uncertainties.

Africa - Overall Trade Outlook 2025

• Africa’s Merchandise Exports (2025 forecast):
  • Growth: +0.6% (adjusted, after tariffs and uncertainty).
  • 2024 growth was +1.3%.
• Africa’s Merchandise Imports:
  • 2025 forecast: +6.5% growth.
  • Strong import recovery after a slow 2024 (+1.8%).
• Africa’s Services Exports:
  • 2025 baseline forecast was +1.8%.
  • Adjusted forecast: -1.6% decline (due to global uncertainty).
• Impact on Africa’s GDP:
  • 2025 GDP growth is forecast to slow by -0.04% to flat 0.0% growth​.
  • This indicates a mild but noticeable slowdown.

Tanzania Specific Points

• Tanzania is not individually highlighted among Africa's top 10 traders in the WTO report.
• However, based on the region-wide Africa performance and Tanzania's recent growth patterns:
  • Tanzania’s exports (goods and services) are likely to grow modestly, mainly due to opportunities in agriculture, gold, tourism, and digitally delivered services.
  • Risks:
    • Weaker demand from Europe and China.
    • Rising competition from other LDCs benefiting from US-China trade diversions​.

Key Opportunity for Tanzania:
New US demand for textiles, agricultural products, and electronics substitutes from African countries could support +4% to +5% export growth if leveraged well​.

Top 10 African Countries (Trade Outlook 2025)

Note: Rankings based on 2024 export size and WTO forecasts​​.

Quick Figure Highlights:

• Africa's contribution to world trade growth: Only +0.4 percentage points in 2025​.
• Africa’s share in digitally delivered services exports: 0.9% in 2024, slowly rising​.
• Overall world trade contraction: -0.2% (2025).

"Africa’s trade will show mixed results in 2025, with strong import growth but only modest export recovery. Tanzania could benefit from shifts in global trade, but services exports will remain vulnerable."

Impact of Trump Tariffs on Africa (Including Tanzania)

Impact on Tanzania Specifically

• Export Opportunities:
  • Tanzania could gain market access in the US for textiles, garments, agriculture as US buyers look for alternatives to Chinese goods​.
  • Strong sectors: gold exports, horticulture, and tourism recovery.
• Risks:
  • Services sector (tourism, logistics) could suffer because of lower global travel demand: services exports expected to fall -1.6% for Africa, including Tanzania​.
  • Logistics costs may increase (higher shipping costs), which could hurt exporters' competitiveness.
• GDP Impact:
  • Tanzania’s GDP growth impact is very minor (similar to Africa average at 0.0% to slight negative).
  • If global uncertainty spreads more, Tanzania's exports could slow more sharply in late 2025.

Short Conclusion:

"Trump tariffs could offer Tanzania a chance to expand goods exports, especially to the US, but services like tourism and shipping face a slowdown. Overall, Africa will see modest export gains but services sector pain."