Gold bars. In 2012, the UN gave Kenya a list of 15 suspected gold traffickers whose activities, it said, were funding wars in DR Congo. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s gold shipment hit $3 billion mark for the first time as price of the precious metal increased in the world market.
According
to the Bank of Tanzania, the value of the exports of gold to $3.025
billion in the year ending March 31, 2021, compared with $2.324 billion
recorded previously.
Gold started attracting higher prices since last
year following the outbreak of the Covid-19 which disrupted economic
activities and markets around the world.
As financial markets were hit by the pandemic, investors rushed for gold which they consider as one of the safe haven assets.
Since last year, gold exports overtook that of tourism which has been hit by Covid-19.
During
the year to March 2021, gold exports accounted for 55.9 percent of
non-traditional exports after increased by $701.3 million to $3.025
billion. The increase is associated with “an increase in the market
price of gold and government initiatives in supporting the mining
industry,” the central bank stated.
“The rise in prices of gold and
oil are, respectively, explained by cumulative impact of rising prices
and subdued demand at the onset of Covid-19,” the BoT added in its
monthly economic review for April.
On the other hand, revenue from
tourism sector which was once the country’s leading foreign exchange
earner reduced to $885.2 million at the end of March 2021 from $2.598
billion recorded in the same period last year.
Travel receipts
declined due to containment measures instituted by various countries
against the Covid-19 pandemic including lockdowns and travel
restrictions. Consequently, the number of international arrivals
declined to 514,625 from 1,511,944 in the year to March 2020.
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