THE government has formed a task force to mobilise resources for the much-hyped and awaited Bagamoyo mega-port and satellite city to facilitate ambitions of becoming a middle-income country by 2025.
The force, comprises officials from the
Ministry of Finance and Planning, Export Processing Zone Authority
(EPZA), China Merchants Holdings International (CMHI) from China and
State Government Reserve Fund (SGRF) from Oman.
EPZA Investment Promotion Manager Ms
Grace Lemunge told reporters at the ongoing Dar es Salaam International
Trade Fair (DITF) that the project was delayed by budget deficit to
compensate villagers who are to pave way for the project.
The project, sitting on a 9,000-hectare
area, involves the construction of the largest port in sub-saharan
Africa an industrial, commercial and residential enclaves around
Bagamoyo. “Roughly, total compensation is pegged at 150bn/-.
We have managed to pay only 50bn/-,
limiting the project from taking off,” she explained. She further
explained that the project would have been started but residents in the
surveyed villages, which had not been paid for, claimed “it will be
absolutely unfair” to develop one area and leave the other.
The task force will help raise the
required fund with the government. However, she said, the authority has
introduced privately-owned special economic zones to help fast-track
processing industries in the country, the latest entrant being Star City
in Morogoro.
According to the manager, the authority
has already issued 11 licences for industrial development in Bagamoyo as
there are signs that more firms are interested to invest in the area.
More Tanzanians are coming on board to
invest in the EPZA, added Ms Nakadongo Fares, a Senior Promotion Officer
in the authority. The officer said the target of the authority is to
double exports of locally-made products, thus contributing heavily to
the country’s gross domestic products (GDP).
Ms Fares elaborated that the authority,
for instance, is working on a plan to develop the Kurasini
Tanzania-China Logistic Centre, a project that has reached good take-off
stage.
According to the official, the authority
is offering 10-year tax exemption for firms investing in
strategically-allocated areas. A maximum requirement to secure land
portion for investment for local investors is to have an annual turnover
of 100,000 US dollars and 500,000 US dollars for foreign investors.
Explaining on the private special
economic zone arrangements, Ms Lemunge said the focus is on processing
and manufacturing firms. Star-City General Manager Anangh Bhat said the
firm has already secured an operating licence from the EPZA and was now
awaiting an environmental impact assessment from the environmental
council to start investment.
“We expect the environment permit in 15
days. The first phase, which consists of industrial development, will
start early in September,” he reported. Mr Bhat said the firm, run
jointly by Tanzania and Singapore firms, holds over 80,000 hectares for
industrial, residential and dry port development.
“We want to decongest Dar es Salaam and
other big cities by developing other towns. Investors in Morogoro will
be able to access markets and services in big cities like Dodoma and Dar
es Salaam,” he pointed out.
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