Tanzanian authorities have invited investors in the fisheries
sector saying the east African nation’s current demand for fish
products was 800,000 tonnes annually while production stood at between
400,000 tonnes and 450,000 tonnes annually.
Abdallah Ulega, the Deputy Minister for Livestock and Fisheries, said
there were huge investment opportunities in fish processing plants and
aquaculture.
Speaking at the end of an investment forum organized by the
investment portfolio in the Prime Minister’s Office on Saturday evening
in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, Ulega said the government has
put in place conducive atmosphere for investing in the fisheries sector.
He also appealed to investors to capture investment opportunities
that were available in dairy, meat and leather processing factories.
Speaking last week at the launch of a five-year program by WWF
Tanzania aimed at improving management in Tanzania’s marine areas, Ulega
said fish catches have increased after the government managed to
control illegal fishing by 99 percent.
He said the massive control in illegal fishing has resulted in an
increase in fish catches from 387,543 tonnes of fish worth 1.74 trillion
Tanzanian shillings (about 756 million U.S. dollars) in 2017/2018 to
448,464 tonnes worth 2.11 trillion shillings in 2018/2019.
Ulega said the fisheries sector in Tanzania grew by 9.2 percent in
2018, contributing to 1.71 percent of the gross domestic product, adding
that the target by the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries was to
ensure that the fishing industry contributed 5 percent of the GDP by
2020/2021.
He said the fisheries sector on mainland Tanzania provided 202,053 direct employment and 4.5 million indirect employment. Enditem
