In this article, we review the newly enacted Tanzania Investment Act No. 10 of 2022 (the New Act). The New Act was passed by Parliament on 2 December 2022 after being published in the Government Gazette. The New Act repeals the Tanzania Investment Act No. 26 of 1997 (the Old Act). We highlight the key changes made by the New Act and how these changes may affect doing business in Tanzania. The changes brought in by the New Act are less consequential than initially anticipated, however they do provide clarity on several key issues, including on procedure.

Main highlights of the new act:

  1. investment capital for a Tanzanian investor reduced;
  2. added functions for the National Investment Steering Committee (NISC) and the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC);
  3. establishment of an integrated electronic system;
  4. removal of the automatic immigration quota incentive;
  5. removal of time to appeal to the Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade (the Minister);
  6. clear timeframe for an issued certificate of incentive;
  7. added requirements for investors under strategic investment or special strategic investments;
  8. higher fines for non-compliance;
  9. access to international arbitration; and
  10. protection of existing certificates of incentives.

A comparison of the new act against the old:

 

As a general point, land remains a challenging area for foreign investors and their interaction with TIC. It had been assumed that TIC would oversee a ‘land bank’ where land designated for investment purposes would be readily available. Such a system is yet to be put in place. Foreign investors must therefore continue to go through an occasionally lengthy process of (a) identification and (b) conversion of land from one category to another (village to general land for example) in order to obtain derivative rights from TIC.

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