Export Britain

Tanzania

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Ease of trading across borders

Importing a standard container of goods into Tanzania requires:

Introduction

Tanzania is a lower-middle income, small-sized economy located in Sub-Saharan Africa. Tanzania's economy is predominantly services-based. Tanzania’s economy depends on agriculture, which accounts for more than one-quarter of GDP, provides 85% of exports, and employs about 80% of the work force. The World Bank, the IMF, and bilateral donors have provided funds to rehabilitate Tanzania's aging economic infrastructure, including rail and port infrastructure that are important trade links for inland countries. All land in Tanzania is owned by the government, which can lease land for up to 99 years. Proposed reforms to allow for land ownership, particularly foreign land ownership, remain unpopular.

Economic snapshot (% annual growth rate)

	2012	2013	2014-17
GDP	6.9	7.0	6.5
Export of goods and services	7.0	-3.9	5.7
Import of goods and services	7.7	0.6	3.4
Inflation rate (%)	16.0	7.9	5.7
Exchange rate (per £)	2497	2382	2405
Population	3.2	3.1	3.0
Source: Oxford Economics

Economic outlook

Tanzania’s economy has been growing steadily for the past 10 years. Tanzania continues to do well in maintaining overall macroeconomic stability. The main drivers of growth have been agriculture, manufacturing, wholesale and retail trade, transport and communication activities. The economy has also continued to record strong export growth. Tanzania’s medium-term growth prospects are around 7%.  

Trade outlook

Tanzania, a member of the East African Community (EAC), mainly exports agricultural products to Europe, however the share of exports to Europe are expected to fall in the medium to long-term. The share of exports to the Asia are expected to increase, with the likes of India and China particularly experiencing a greater increase in share of imports from Tanzania. Tanzania’s major imports include machinery and technical equipment from Europe. The largest trading partners are China, Japan, India, Germany, UAE. 

SWOT analysis

Strengths One of the top destinations for FDI in Africa.	Weaknesses Heavily dependent on foreign aid. Corruption.
Opportunities Government continuing to pursue strategic reform goals.	Threats Weakness in infrastructure, in particular energy and transportation.

Opportunities for UK businesses

The United Republic of Tanzania is located on the east coast of Africa, bordered by eight countries including Kenya, Uganda, Congo and Mozambique. The economy is relatively diversified and a number of opportunities remain untapped in many sectors thus offer a wide range of opportunities to UK businesses. In order to achieve the Government of Tanzania’s goal of becoming a middle income country by 2025, Tanzania will need to restructure its economy which is currently agriculture based. Tanzania’s structural transformation will not only require large productivity gains in the agricultural sector, but also necessitate increased participation from other sectors such as services and industries. Opportunities also exist in the following sectors, infrastructure, telecommunications, manufacturing and construction.

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