Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Wednesday, September 20, 2023.
Samia launched a USD 311 Million glass factory
Yesterday, President Samia Suluhu Hassan concluded her visit to the southern region and returned to Dar es Salaam. President Samia, made stops at Somanga, Ikwriri, Kibiti before concluding with opening of a Saphire Float Glass factory in Mkuranga.
In her tour, in the Southern region in Mtwara and Lindi, as well as stops along the way, Samia has managed to pull a massive crowd, many observers have analysed this as an important morale boost to the President, following an extensive criticism and national discussion on the contraversial port deal with Dubai.
Sapphire Float Glass factory is said to be the fourth largest glass factory in Africa, with the main investor being the Wankang Group from China. Its anticipated that the facility will produce over 700 tonnes of glass per day.
“The project will produce 700 tonnes of glass per day, and 75 percent of glass produced will be exported and 25 percent will be sold domestically, ” said Frankie Yang, the Executive Director of the Board of the Wankang Group.
Prior to the establishment of the Saphire Glass Factory, the Wankang Group, had established a ceramic production facility in Mkuranga, Goodwill Ceramic in 2017, with annual turnover of USD 1 billion according to the Wankang Executive Director.
The Sapphire Float Glass covers 169 Hectares and is considered to be the largest glass production facility in Eastern and Central Africa.
According to the Minister of Planning and Investment, Professor Kitila Mkumbo the factory will bring in direct tax revenue of Sh. 42.7 billion annually. The factory has so far employed 750 people.
Speaking about the factory, President Samia said that this is the largest investment that the country has managed to attract in recent years and urged local government to ensure the sourcing of raw materials is made available without hassles.
President Samia, also explained that next week the government will launch Tanzania Electronic Investment Window, a platform that will enable investors to receive critical services in one window.
Samia went on to assure, Chinese investors and other investors in the country that their investment is safe and Tanzania will continue creating enabling environment.
“When I visited China last year, we strengthened our relationship from normal friendship to strategic friendship, where more factories like this will come from China,” said President Samia.
Tanzania charges musicians who sang about police brutality
Tanzania is suing three musicians who sang about police brutality in their song that has so far gone viral, charging them with the publication of “false information,” which is against the controversial Cybercrime Act of 2015.
The musicians – Sifa Boniventura Bujune, Salome Mwampeta and Hezekiel Millyashi – sing about police brutality in their song titled Mnatuona Nyani, which translates to You See Us As Apes in English, where they allege that a young man had his teeth gorged out by police officers for no reason.
The gospel singers were detained for five days without bail before being produced in court on Tuesday, which their lawyer Jebra Kambole described as “unlawful.” The musicians denied committing the offence, and they’re out on bail, Kambole told The Chanzo.
Full story here.
Tanzania, Winshear Gold suspend arbitration proceedings, reach conditional agreement
Canadian-based gold exploration company Winshear Gold Corp and the government of Tanzania have suspended arbitration proceedings and have reached a conditional settlement agreement, the company said in an update on Tuesday.
However, Winshear, formerly Helio Resource Corp., pointed out that there is no guarantee that the conditional settlement agreement will be concluded, promising to report any developments as they occur.
The evidentiary hearing between the company and the government of Tanzania commenced on February 13, 2023, in Washington D.C., where a three-person tribunal panel presided over the court hearings, which were expected to conclude on or before the close of business on Friday, February 17, 2023.
The company sued Tanzania over the decision by the latter to cancel the licenses of the former, which was operating the SMP Gold Project, located in southwest Tanzania.
Winshear’s licenses were cancelled immediately after the government amended the Mining Act 2010, whose regulations subsequently cancelled all Retention Licences, at which point they ceased to have any legal effect.
The government has removed Winshear’s ownership of the SMP Project, something that the company says by doing so, Tanzania breached its obligations to Winshear under the Canada-Tanzania Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) and international law.
Some of these include Tanzania’s obligation not to nationalise or expropriate the company’s investments or subject them to measures having an effect equivalent to nationalisation or expropriation without prompt, adequate and effective compensation under the BIT.
Another is Tanzania’s obligation to accord fair and equitable treatment and full protection and security to the company’s investment and not to impair by unreasonable or discriminatory measures the maintenance, use, enjoyment or disposal of the company’s investment under the BIT.
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) Convention has been ratified by 158 States, including Tanzania. An award issued by an ICSID tribunal is enforceable in any of those 158 member States as if it were a judgment of one of their own courts.
CCM promised youth jobs, it should deliver instead of preaching self-employment
Chama cha Mapinduzi (CCM) promised young people that it’d provide them with jobs while campaigning during the 2020 elections. I can almost guarantee that they will make the same promise in 2025.
So, my question to the leadership is this: why do you promise specific numbers of jobs during election campaigns but then wash your hands off the issue after you are elected? Why don’t you simply outline how you will create a business-friendly environment instead of making unrealistic promises?
President Samia says the government has already created a conducive environment for young people to create employment. I would argue that this is true in theory but not in practice.
There is still a lot of red tape involved in starting a business; financial institutions claim to support youth entrepreneurship but often do not, and it is still difficult for young people to raise capital.
Full analysis here.
This is it for today, and we hope you enjoyed our briefing. Please consider subscribing to our newsletter (see below), following us on X (Twitter) (here), or joining us on Telegram (here). And in case you have any questions or comments, please drop a word to our editors at editor@thechanzo.com.
