Samia lures French investors

PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan yesterday welcomed French investors to Tanzania, saying her government is implementing a raft of reforms aimed at improving the business environment in the country.

Addressing members of the French Business Confederation (MEDEF) in Paris, the president invited investors to explore world-class opportunities in Tanzania in livestock, agriculture, energy, mining and other sectors.

"The government (of Tanzania) has done major legal, institutional and fiscal reforms in the public sector to ensure there is ease in starting and doing business in the country," Ms. Samia was quoted in a statement issued by the Directorate of Presidential Communications.

President Samia said measures taken by her administration to improve the business environment have already yielded positive results, with the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) recording an upsurge in Foreign Direct Investment (FID) inflows over the past one year.

TIC registered 256 new projects in 2021 worth 3.749 billion US dollars, which are expected to create a total of 53,025 jobs, she said.

Meanwhile, the two countries signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Tanzania Airports Authority (TAA) and Bouygues Batiment International for a feasibility study for rehabilitation of Terminal II building at the Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) in Dar es Salaam.

The agreement was signed by Eric Fleurisson, Executive Director, Airport Development for France and Dr. Ally Possi, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Works and Continued from Page 1 Transport of Tanzania. France is ranked 35th as a source of investments in Tanzania, with 40 existing projects worth 73.4 million US dollars, which have so far generated 1,885 jobs.

After the meeting with the businesspersons, President Samia held a meeting with the President of France Emmanuel Macron at the Elysée State House in Paris.

Earlier, President Samia visited the headquarters of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), where she held talks with its Director General, Ms. Audrey Azoulay.

Samia, who is in France for a working visit, met with Tanzanians who are living in France on Sunday evening and urged them to adhere to laws of the host country. "You have to abide by the laws of land. I know you are living well here and do not tarnish the good image of Tanzania. We don't want to hear cases of Tanzanians in jails abroad," she counselled them during the meeting.

Adding: "These countries have a lot of respect for our country. You should not tarnish the image. Live well and cooperate amongst yourselves. The ambassador is here."

President Samia flew out of the country last week for a working visit to France and Belgium, in which among others she attended the "One Ocean Summit" which aimed at taking actions against the threats to the ocean.

The three-day summit started on Thursday where President Macron on Friday led other leaders, multilateral institutions and business leaders to make ambitious commitments, according to organisers of the event.

While in France, President Samia has witnessed the signing of agreements aimed at strengthening trade, investments and bilateral relations between the two countries. The agreement included financing the development for the implementation of strategic priority projects in Tanzania.

It includes a concessional loan agreement worth 178 million euros (about 469.1bn/-) to finance the construction of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project phase five in Dar es Salaam and a concessional loan amounting to 80 million euros (208.6bn/-) to support the Tanzania Agriculture Development Bank (TADB) meet its short- and long-term lending goals to support farmers with much lower interest loans.

Also the two nations inked a grant agreement for 1 million euros (equivalent to 2.6bn/-) to further support the activities of the TADB.