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Act No. 5 of 2017 establishes four interlocking instruments of resource sovereignty:
1. Sovereign vesting of all natural wealth (Articles 3–5) All natural wealth and resources of Tanzania — defined broadly to encompass minerals, petroleum, natural gas, fisheries, fauna, flora, genetic resources, water, and maritime resources including the continental shelf and EEZ — are declared the permanent and inalienable property of the People of the United Republic, held in trust by the President. No private or foreign entity may assert ownership rights over natural wealth in situ; commercial entitlements are licensing rights only, revocable under Tanzanian law.
2. International arbitration prohibition (Article 11) Every dispute arising out of or in connection with the exploration, exploitation, or acquisition and use of natural wealth and resources shall be adjudicated exclusively by judicial bodies established under Tanzanian laws. ICSID, UNCITRAL, ICC, LCIA, and all comparable international arbitral fora are excluded by statutory text. This provision retroactively affected the operative dispute-resolution clauses embedded in pre-2017 mining development agreements, including the Acacia Mining MDA (Barrick Gold JV) — a primary trigger for the USD 300 bn tax/royalty demand served on Acacia in March 2017 and the subsequent Twiga Minerals JV settlement of 2019 (16% state equity + USD 300 mn upfront + profit-sharing formula).
3. Parliamentary review and renegotiation mandate (Articles 6–9) Every existing and future natural-resource arrangement or agreement is subject to parliamentary scrutiny. Parliament is empowered to require renegotiation of any arrangement deemed to contain "unconscionable terms," operationalised by the companion Act No. 6 of 2017 (Natural Wealth and Resources Contracts — Review and Re-Negotiation of Unconscionable Terms Act). This framework was activated against Petra Diamonds (Williamson Diamond Mine), Tanzanite One, and Songas Power between 2017 and 2020.
4. In-country banking and local beneficiation (Articles 12–13) All earnings, proceeds, and revenues derived from natural wealth and resources must be retained within Tanzania and channelled through Tanzanian financial institutions. Export of raw unprocessed minerals is prohibited; beneficiation (smelting, refining, cutting/polishing for gemstones) must occur in-country before export. This prefigures the more granular beneficiation-mandate architecture in the 2024 Written Laws (No. 4) Act and the 2025 Finance Act's gold local-value-add expansion.
5. Statutory override of stabilisation clauses Pre-existing MDAs containing contractual "stabilisation" or "freezing" clauses (which would protect investors from subsequent changes in law) are rendered unenforceable insofar as they conflict with Act No. 5. This eliminated a major legal shield used by Acacia/Barrick, Petra Diamonds, and others in the earlier investor-state dispute posture.
Three Acts were passed in the same parliamentary session (June–July 2017):
Together, the trio marked Tanzania's decisive shift from the 1990s–2010s "investor-friendly" mineral-development agreement architecture toward a sovereignty-first, beneficiation-first framework that became the legislative DNA for the entire subsequent Tanzanian mining reform cluster.