Industrial Policy & Trade Monitor· 2675 actions· ✨ 91 recent

The Government of Tanzania signed a Development Agreement with Panda Hill Tanzania Limited (a subsidiary of US-based Denham Capital / Tremont Investments) on 24 March 2026 in Mbeya to develop the Panda Hill niobium and ferroniobium project in the Mbeya/Songwe region. Under the agreement, the Government holds a 16% non-dilutable free carried interest in the project special-purpose vehicle, with Panda Hill Tanzania Limited committing to an initial capital investment of USD 442 million to construct Tanzania's first niobium mine and ferroniobium smelting plant — the first ferroniobium processing facility in Africa. At full production, the project is expected to supply approximately 4–5% of global niobium demand, generating USD 686 million in lifetime government revenues (royalties, taxes, and 16% equity dividends), positioning Tanzania among the world's top-four niobium producers alongside Brazil's CBMM, Canada's Niobec, and China Molybdenum.

Tanzania's Parliament passed the Written Laws (Miscellaneous Amendments) (No. 4) Act, 2024 (Bill No. 15 of 2024, published in the Special Gazette of the United Republic of Tanzania No. 34 Vol. 105 on 5 November 2024), which amends eight statutes including the Mining Act, Cap. 123. The mining-related provisions: (i) empower the Minister for Minerals, on recommendation from the Geological Survey of Tanzania (GST), to declare specific minerals as "critical" (essential to national economic, geopolitical, technology, or industrial use with limited or threatened supply) or "strategic" (mineral resources with diplomatic or defence importance) — the first Tanzanian statutory authority to do so; (ii) raise the minimum capital investment for a Mining Licence from USD 100,000 to USD 5,000,000 (a 50× hike pricing out junior explorers); (iii) authorise gemstone export following government-organised mineral auctions or international gem fairs while reaffirming the general beneficiation-in-Tanzania requirement on raw minerals and concentrates; (iv) require GST verification of mineral data on samples exported by mineral right holders; and (v) impose penalties for inaccurate or false mineral-data submissions. The Act establishes the gateway statutory authority for any future Tanzania critical- mineral export-control or stockpiling regime.

Tanzania's Parliament passed Act No. 10 of 2022, the Tanzania Investment Act, 2022, on 2 December 2022, repealing the Tanzania Investment Act 1997 (Cap. 38 / Act No. 26 of 1997) — the first major overhaul of the country's foreign-investment legal framework in 25 years. The new Act restructures the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) into a One-Stop Facilitation Centre with an integrated electronic system, introduces Strategic and Major Investment Certificates (with capital thresholds of USD 50m foreign / USD 20m local plus minimum 1,000 local jobs and 50% export-uplift requirements), reduces the minimum capital threshold for ordinary local investors from USD 100,000 to USD 50,000, and codifies dispute-resolution access via local arbitration, ICSID, and bilateral/multilateral investment protection agreements. The Act was operationalised by Government Notice No. 94 of 17 February 2023.