Look for long-term capital, govt urged

 

By Alawi Masare

In Summary

Mr Mark Otty, EY managing partner for Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) who is visiting Tanzania said that Tanzania, like other countries should go on with its plans to raise capital from the international markets to finance the infrastructure projects.

Auditing firm Ernst and Young (EY) has advised Tanzania to partner with the private sector and look for long-term capital to finance its infrastructure development.

Mr Mark Otty, EY managing partner for Europe, Middle East, India and Africa (EMEIA) who is visiting Tanzania said that Tanzania, like other countries should go on with its plans to raise capital from the international markets to finance the infrastructure projects.

“Many countries not only in Africa are raising long-term capital from the international markets at affordable rates. I also advocate that,” said Mr Otty during a media briefing.

Tanzania is in the process of floating a $750 million Eurobond for expansion of infrastructure like roads and ports.

Finance minister Saada Mkuya was quoted by the media last year as saying the Eurobond would be ready by 2016.

Mr Otty said Tanzania stands well in issues like instability and corruption which are perceived as negative factors by the multinational companies. He added that Tanzania’s economic growth was on track.

and there are many investment opportunities in the country currently,” he said.

He said the prospects for the Tanzania economy remained positive mainly influenced by the country’s political stability and reaffirmed that EY would continue investing in the country.

“We are committed to Tanzania and this is one of the things I will share with President Kikwete when we meet. We will also hear from on how they want us to help the government,” he said.

Considering the seven per cent growth the country is recording, Mr Otty mentioned sectors like financial services, telecommunications, manufacturing, agriculture and the extractive industry as one of the fastest growing while also providing investment opportunities.

Tanzania has so far discovered 53.28 trillion cubic feet (TCF) by November 2014 in the ongoing exploration activities both onshore and offshore by companies including Statoil and BG.

BACKGROUND: ABOUT ERNST & YOUNG
 Ernst & Young Global Limited (known as EY) is a multinational professional services firm headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the “Big Four” audit firms and is the third largest professional services firm in the world by aggregated revenue in 2014. The organization operates as a network of member firms which are separate legal entities in individual countries. It has 190,000 employees in over 700 offices around 150 countries in the world. It provides assurance (including financial audit), tax, consulting and advisory services to companies.