
Tanzania
Overview and role of the EITI
Tanzania is predominantly a mining country with both small and large-scale operations. The country’s extractive sector accounted for 5.2% to national GDP in 2019. Its diverse mining sector includes exploitation of gold, diamonds and tanzanite. Tanzania also produces natural gas and plans to commercialise offshore gas discoveries through the development of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant. However, a decrease in natural gas prices and delays in the financing of commercial natural gas agreements put future revenues at risk.
Tanzania joined the EITI as part of the government’s wider reform efforts to make the extractive sector more competitive and maximise the benefits from mining. Tanzania EITI (TEITI) has been using the EITI process to produce data on local content, the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline and the contribution of artisanal and small-scale mining to mining revenues and local content. There is an opportunity for Tanzania to use the EITI to contribute to ongoing public debates on whether the state receives a good return from its extractive deals, and how revenues are being used to benefit citizens.
Economic contribution of the extractive industries
- 1%
- to government revenues
- 35%
- to exports
- 5.2%
- to GDP
- 1%
- to employment
Innovations and policy reforms
- Tanzania EITI contributed to the development of the Tanzania Extractive Industries Act Regulations in 2019. The regulations provide for the disclosure of contracts and beneficial ownership data.
- EITI Reporting has resulted in increased transparency on the contribution of the extractive sector to local procurement and on artisanal and small-scale mining production data.
Extractive sector data
Production and exports
Revenue collection
Revenue distribution
Top paying companies
Extractive sector management
Tax and legal framework
Tanzania’s mining sector is governed by the Mining Act (2010) while its oil and gas sector is regulated by the Petroleum Act (2015). Revenues from the oil and gas sector are regulated by the Oil and Gas Revenues Management Act (2015).
The extractive industry is primarily regulated by the Mining Commission, the Petroleum Upstream Regulatory Authority, the national oil company Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC), and the Tanzania Revenue Authority.
Licenses and contracts
Mining licenses are granted on a first come, first served basis while petroleum agreements are entered into through a competitive public tendering process. The Mining Commission and the Minister of Energy, with advice from the Petroleum Upstream Authority (PURA), are responsible for granting mining and oil and gas rights, respectively. Product sharing agreements define conditions for hydrocarbon exploration and extraction and are obtained through direct negotiations with the Petroleum Upstream Authority (PURA). The Ministry of Energy and Minerals maintains an online mining cadastre.
The Tanzania Extractive Industries Transparency and Accountability Act (2015) and the Regulations (2019) have provisions for the full disclosure of contracts. The law is yet to be fully implemented.
Beneficial ownership
In 2020, Tanzania amended the Companies Act to provide for the collection of beneficial ownership data and to maintain a beneficial ownership register. The government further developed beneficial ownership regulations in 2021 to provide further clarity on the required beneficial ownership disclosures for all companies.
In the absence of a publicly available beneficial ownership register, TEITI has been using EITI reporting to collect and disclose information on companies’ legal and beneficial ownership. While compliance has been low, the new legislation is expected to result in more progress on beneficial ownership transparency.
Revenue distribution
Extractive revenues are collected by the Mining Commission, the Tanzania Petroleum and Development Corporation and the Tanzania Revenue Authority. Local government authorities are entitled to a 0.3% share of profits from extractive activities undertaken in their respective regions, which are transferred directly by companies as subnational payments.
EITI implementation
EITI governance
Tanzania EITI is administered by the TEITI Multi-Stakeholder Group (MSG). The MSG is hosted by the Department of Finance and chaired by Mr Ludovick Utouh, former Controller and Auditor General (CAG) for Tanzania. It is comprised of representatives from government, industry and civil society.
Timeline
Government announces commitment to join the EITI
Tanzania becomes an EITI member
Multi-stakeholder group is formed
2008-2009 EITI Report published
Report
2009-2010 EITI Report published
Report
Designated EITI compliant
2010-2011 EITI Report published
Report
2011-2012 EITI Report published
Report
2013-2014 EITI Report published
Report
2014-2015 EITI Report published
Report
Validation
Board decision
2015-2016 EITI Report published
Report
2016-2017 EITI Report published
Report
2017-2018 EITI Report published
Report
Validation
Board decision
2018-2019 EITI Report published
Report
2019-2020 EITI Report published
Report
Validation
Tanzania was found to have made meaningful progress with considerable improvements in implementing the 2016 EITI Standard in June 2020, following its second Validation. Tanzania has fully addressed 10 of the 18 corrective actions identified in its previous Validation. The next Validation is expected to commence in April 2022.