Tanzania’s gold sector is reaping the benefits of recent reforms.
An overhaul of the East African nation’s mineral sector, which included establishing trading centres countrywide, has boosted GDP from 4.8% last year to 5% in 2018/19, as reported by The East African.
In just one month, 21 trading hubs facilitated the sale of gold worth US$14 million. ‘This amount is more than what we used to sell in one year,’ says Minister for Minerals Doto Biteko. The government-controlled centres were rolled out earlier this year in an effort to curb smuggling and illegal exports, and to provide small-scale and artisanal miners with access to a formal, regulated market.
The government has set a target of US$205.5 million in revenue from minerals in the 2019/20 financial year, with plans in place to open additional trading centres.