Before one dives into the policy debates and legal frameworks, one can feel the tension almost everywhere, from the boardrooms of Dar es Salaam to the dusty bus stands in Kigoma. Tanzanians are trying to make sense of an economy that is full of ambition but stretched at the seams.
The government faces a tightening borrowing space just as infrastructure demands climb higher, and state-owned enterprises quietly struggle behind the scenes, carrying losses that don’t always make the evening news.
People sense that the country has the talent, the ambition, and even the legal tools to do better; what’s missing is a home, one decisive institution, where partnerships, investment, and public enterprises can be aligned with the urgency of this moment.
That is the real heart behind the proposal for the Ministry of Public Partnerships and Public Enterprises: a recognition that Tanzania has reached a point where coordination, commercial discipline, and strategic collaboration are no longer optional; they’re the only path forward.
The case for establishing the Ministry of Public Partnerships and Public Enterprises grows stronger each time Tanzania confronts the limits of its traditional investment model. The economic pressure President Samia Suluhu Hassan has spoken about openly is not rhetorical; it’s something officials feel every time they look at borrowing ceilings or attempt to stretch limited public funds across competing priorities.
With Vision 2050 aiming for a $1 trillion economy, it becomes impossible to ignore that the current institutional arrangement spreads responsibilities so thin that even the best policies struggle to gain traction.
Across the country, more than 270 state-owned enterprises operate in a structure that is both vast and fragile. They sit under the Office of the Treasury Registrar, a system that was designed for oversight but not necessarily for modern commercial performance.
You see the consequences in the numbers: average returns of just 2.8%, recurring losses in major SOEs, and a dependency on government support that drains fiscal space needed for other priorities. Young professionals inside these enterprises speak of wanting to modernize, to compete, to partner with the private sector, yet they often face procedural complexities that would challenge even the most seasoned investor.
At the same time, Tanzania’s Public-Private Partnership Centre has been trying to scale the country’s PPP agenda, working through more than 84 projects at various stages. These are projects with massive potential, roads, ports, power plants, and digital infrastructure, but the Centre operates somewhat in isolation, caught between ministerial boundaries that limit its speed and authority.
It is not for lack of expertise; it is the fragmentation that slows everything down. Some PPPs take up to five years just to complete preparation, a timeline that drains momentum from both the government and investors.
The idea behind a consolidated ministry is not to create another bureaucratic silo, but to build a central command structure capable of pulling all these threads together. By placing the PPP Centre and the Treasury Registrar under one roof, the government would finally have a single institution responsible for structuring partnerships, commercializing public enterprises, and building investor confidence. It would be the place where public ambition and private capital meet, efficiently, transparently, and at a pace that matches the country’s aspirations.
This reform is not simply administrative. It is personal for the many civil servants who know how hard it is to push projects uphill through scattered channels. It is personal for communities waiting for new power lines, modern ports, or faster transport corridors. And it is deeply personal for a government that knows the political stakes of moving too slowly.
One of the biggest challenges for Tanzania’s development path has been the performance gap within its SOEs. They are expected to deliver essential services, generate revenue, and contribute to national growth, yet a significant number rely heavily on government bailouts.
When you talk privately to SOE managers, many admit they want to operate more commercially, competing, partnering, and innovating, but are held back by outdated structures or slow-moving processes that dampen initiative.
The proposed ministry aims to change that culture from the ground up. By placing SOE governance, commercialization, and partnership development under a shared institutional umbrella, the government signals a shift from caretaking to performance.
SOEs would be encouraged, even required, to explore PPP models that bring in outside expertise and reduce government exposure. This is not theoretical; the potential is already visible in early examples. Tanesco’s exploration of private partnerships in generation, or the Tanzania Ports Authority’s interest in collaborative infrastructure development, shows that parts of the system are ready for a more competitive, commercially oriented future.
But unlocking this future requires more than policy; it requires capacity. That is why the proposal also emphasizes professional training, such as CP3P certification programs already outlined in the Tanzania PPP Strategy.
Executives trained in PPP structuring become more confident in negotiating complex contracts, evaluating risks, and understanding investor expectations. When SOE leaders see successful projects unfold, like the ongoing PPP pilots in energy and transport, their appetite for similar ventures grows.
And that appetite has national significance. Tanzania needs SOEs that can turn infrastructure assets into real value, not recurring liabilities. Better-performing SOEs not only ease fiscal pressures; they also improve credit ratings, attract new investors, and boost the country’s reputation as a reliable economic partner.
In a region where Kenya and others are consolidating similar functions to streamline partnerships, Tanzania cannot afford to maintain a system that works in slow motion while the global investment landscape accelerates.
What people often forget is that PPPs are not simply financial instruments; they are relationships. They require trust, clarity, and long-term commitment between government institutions and private entities.
A ministry dedicated to cultivating that relationship gives Tanzania a foundation for more mature partnerships that endure beyond political cycles. It makes collaboration a norm rather than an exception.
Every year, Tanzania invests billions into infrastructure and public enterprises, yet the returns remain far below potential. The country’s debt levels, hovering between 40 and 48% of GDP, are manageable but tightening, while domestic borrowing risks crowding out private sector credit unless structural reforms are made. As one senior economist recently noted, “the issue is not the size of the debt, but the pace of future needs.” That pace is quickening.
PPPs offer a way out of this bind, not by replacing public investment but by rebalancing it. When structured well, PPPs mobilize private capital, transfer appropriate risks, and deliver infrastructure faster than traditional models.
Tanzania’s own ambitions reflect this: recent initiatives target mobilizing up to TZS 25 trillion, roughly $9 billion, in private financing. Yet achieving these targets will require a ministry that can shorten project preparation cycles, provide consistent oversight, and maintain a direct line to the highest levels of government.
This is where the Ministry of Public Partnerships and Public Enterprises becomes a game-changer. Instead of allowing projects to drift through fragmented institutions, the ministry would create a unified pipeline, identifying flagship projects, accelerating approvals, coordinating with international partners, and ensuring SOEs are aligned with national priorities. Faster preparation means faster financial close. Faster close means earlier job creation, earlier service delivery, and earlier contributions to growth.
The economic ripple effects could be transformative. GDP growth, already projected at 6.1% in 2025, could push beyond 7% with efficient PPP delivery. Private sector credit could rise toward the needed 25% of GDP as the government shifts away from heavy domestic borrowing. And for credit-rating agencies that view institutional coherence as a key metric, this reform could be the signal that Tanzania is serious about disciplined, long-term public investment.
In everyday terms, it means better roads, more reliable electricity, modern ports, expanded water systems, and digital infrastructure that supports businesses and communities. It means the state stops carrying losses from underperforming enterprises and starts generating revenue from commercially oriented partnerships. And most importantly, it means people feel the benefits, not in distant projections, but in the daily functioning of their economy.
The proposal for the Ministry of Public Partnerships and Public Enterprises is ultimately about giving Tanzania the tools to match its own ambition. It recognizes that the country is sitting on extraordinary potential, strong legal frameworks, a strategic location, a growing young workforce, and investor interest that many nations would envy.
What has been missing is a single institution capable of weaving these strengths into a coherent, rapid, and commercially minded strategy. With this ministry, Tanzania positions itself not only to meet the demands of Vision 2050 but to set a continental standard for how public and private sectors can build a nation’s future together.