Felister Peter
TOP officials from the Ministry of Energy and
Minerals and Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) yesterday failed to turn
up at a mineral stakeholders roundtable discussion on the sector’s
challenges and future for a third time, forcing the organizers to
postpone the even indefinitely.
Guardian On Sunday 
Professor Joseph Semboja
According
to, Prof. Joseph Semboja chief executive officer of the meeting
organizers Uongozi Institute, the key government officials had cancelled
their previously-confirmed attendance at the last minute. He told other
meeting participants who were already gathered to disperse and await
further word as the institute continues to liaise with the officials.
“It is very disappointing…this dialogue was originally to be held some weeks ago. We have had to postpone it yet again because we can’t talk to ourselves (about mining sector matters) … there must be someone to respond to the concerns we raise”, Prof Semboja said.
He explained that all the officials invited from the ministry and TRA had earlier confirmed that they would be coming to the meeting, only to inform the organizers yesterday morning that they were on their way to attend another crucial meeting with members of parliament.
The roundtable discussion themed ‘Positioning Tanzania’s Mining Sector to Yield Maximum Benefits’ was set to be graced by key officials from TRA and the concerned ministry, including the commissioner for mines and possibly the minister himself.
They were expected to interact with over 50 participants from the private sector, operational mines in the country, research institutions, National Assembly and civil society organizations to discuss various challenges that persist in the mining sector, including a weak infrastructural system that discourages further potential investment in the industry.
The chairman of the Tanzania Chamber of Minerals and Energy (TCME), Ambassador Ami Mpungwe, expressed dismay at the last-minute roundtable cancellation, saying it would have been a good opportunity for the government and various other stakeholders to debate why the sector looks like it is no longer growing as exploration activities decline.
“We were to discuss the challenges facing the mining sector and come up with resolutions that could help the nation get maximum benefits from this sector”, Mpungwe said, noting that any discussions would be meaningless in the absence of government representatives.
According to Acacia Plc’s vice president (cooperate affairs) Deo Mwanyika, the opinions of the various stakeholders were crucial for further development of the sector. He said despite amendments to the existing mining law in 2010, several issues still need to be worked out for the sector to be able to contribute 10 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020.
“The mining sector in Tanzania is declining as we only have five big mines left. We have a good law but efforts should be done to attract more investors”, Mwanyika said.
The mining sector’s current contribution to the national GDP ranges between 3-4 percent. Nonetheless, the sector remains the country’s single most important source of foreign exchange revenue with about 40 per cent of export earnings accrued from minerals, mainly from gold mining by a scattering of large-scale, foreign-owned companies.
The two main topics which were to be presented at the roundtable discussion were ‘The State of the Mining Sector in Tanzania: Facing Uncertainty’ by TCME chairman Mpungwe, and ‘The Mining Sector From an Explorer’s Perspective’ by David Speneer, chairman of the TCME exploration committee.
According to the organizers, key concerns cited by stakeholders and expected to be thrashed out at the meeting included how to create an enabling policy; legislative, fiscal and regulatory framework; and sustainable political stability, peace and good governance.
Others are security of tenure; institutional capacity; regulatory capacity; infrastructure - particularly energy and transport – and support services; and availability of skills as well as an educated workforce.
“It is very disappointing…this dialogue was originally to be held some weeks ago. We have had to postpone it yet again because we can’t talk to ourselves (about mining sector matters) … there must be someone to respond to the concerns we raise”, Prof Semboja said.
He explained that all the officials invited from the ministry and TRA had earlier confirmed that they would be coming to the meeting, only to inform the organizers yesterday morning that they were on their way to attend another crucial meeting with members of parliament.
The roundtable discussion themed ‘Positioning Tanzania’s Mining Sector to Yield Maximum Benefits’ was set to be graced by key officials from TRA and the concerned ministry, including the commissioner for mines and possibly the minister himself.
They were expected to interact with over 50 participants from the private sector, operational mines in the country, research institutions, National Assembly and civil society organizations to discuss various challenges that persist in the mining sector, including a weak infrastructural system that discourages further potential investment in the industry.
The chairman of the Tanzania Chamber of Minerals and Energy (TCME), Ambassador Ami Mpungwe, expressed dismay at the last-minute roundtable cancellation, saying it would have been a good opportunity for the government and various other stakeholders to debate why the sector looks like it is no longer growing as exploration activities decline.
“We were to discuss the challenges facing the mining sector and come up with resolutions that could help the nation get maximum benefits from this sector”, Mpungwe said, noting that any discussions would be meaningless in the absence of government representatives.
According to Acacia Plc’s vice president (cooperate affairs) Deo Mwanyika, the opinions of the various stakeholders were crucial for further development of the sector. He said despite amendments to the existing mining law in 2010, several issues still need to be worked out for the sector to be able to contribute 10 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2020.
“The mining sector in Tanzania is declining as we only have five big mines left. We have a good law but efforts should be done to attract more investors”, Mwanyika said.
The mining sector’s current contribution to the national GDP ranges between 3-4 percent. Nonetheless, the sector remains the country’s single most important source of foreign exchange revenue with about 40 per cent of export earnings accrued from minerals, mainly from gold mining by a scattering of large-scale, foreign-owned companies.
The two main topics which were to be presented at the roundtable discussion were ‘The State of the Mining Sector in Tanzania: Facing Uncertainty’ by TCME chairman Mpungwe, and ‘The Mining Sector From an Explorer’s Perspective’ by David Speneer, chairman of the TCME exploration committee.
According to the organizers, key concerns cited by stakeholders and expected to be thrashed out at the meeting included how to create an enabling policy; legislative, fiscal and regulatory framework; and sustainable political stability, peace and good governance.
Others are security of tenure; institutional capacity; regulatory capacity; infrastructure - particularly energy and transport – and support services; and availability of skills as well as an educated workforce.
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