THE government has set a target of enlisting 1,500 investment projects taking up $15bn by December this year.

Prof Kitila Mkumbo, the Planning and Investment state minister in the President's Office, cited these projections at a press conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday, presenting investment trends during 2024.

Key sectors in growth projections include manufacturing, agriculture, transport, clean energy, tourism, mining and services, he said, intimating that there are prospects of positioning Tanzania among the top five countries in Africa for investment and capital inflows.

He set out eight measures intended to facilitate these objectives, like granting permits to members of the Diaspora to establish investment promotion centres.

The government is also initiating designated special economic zones, while drafting a new investment law merging the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) and the Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA), he said.

The relevant bill has already been put to a first reading in the legislature and is currently under review by the parliamentary standing committee, he said.

The second phase of the business and investment environment improvement programme is also being prepared, following evaluation of the first phase, showing key successes in enhancing the business and investment climate, he asserted.

Evaluation highlighted challenges that the government and stakeholders are actively addressing, in seeking to position Tanzania as a leading regional investment destination, he stated.

Assessing local government authorities' efforts in improving the business environment and promoting investment will also be conducted, he stated.

Infrastructure development in special economic zones will be pursued, including the Bagamoyo special economic zone, to support industrial growth, he said, underlining that the government is keen on promoting domestic investment.

The goal is to ensure that 50 percent of all investment projects arise from within the country, he said, pledging collaborate with various public agencies to focus on local investors, particularly small and growing businesses. 

Capacity will be enhanced at regional administrative secretariats to improve the investment environment at regional and district levels countrywide, he stated.

By end of last year, TIC had registered 13,282 investment projects attracting $127.176m, and expected to create upwards of 1.98m jobs, he specified, noting that the projects are various stages of implementation.

Within the January to December 2024o period, the centre registered 901 projects, compared to 526 projects registered in the same period in 2023, he added.