Doing business in Tanzania: updates regarding COVID-19

Nieuwsbericht | 22-06-2020 | 16:11

Update 22 June 2020

• The Government of Tanzania has shared no updates on the number of corona cases since 29 April 2020.
• Tanzania internal revenue collection increased by 8.2% - See article in the Daily News.
• The Government of Tanzania predicts that economy will grow at 5.5% in 2020. Which contradicts the prediction by the World Bank of an economic growth of 2.5% – See the article from The Citizen.
• Tanzania Agriculture Development Bank lowers interest rates from 12% to 9% - See this article in the Daily News.
• Rwanda, Kenya address truck standoff on Tanzania borders – See this article in The EastAfrican.
• President Magufuli orders Secondary and Primary schools to re-open on June 29, 2020 – see this article in the The Citizen.
• Trade Mark East Africa compiled various reports on the Impacts of COVID-19 on Eastern & Southern African Trade – May 2020. The reports can be found here.
• The government of the Netherlands is making 750 million euros available for bridge loans for Dutch registered businesses in the micro- and medium- business sector. These bridge loans are available to businesses with a relatively small financing need of between €10,000 and €50,000 – For more information see here.

Further information and useful links

The embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Tanzania has carefully compiled a COVID-19 economic update on the expected impact of the pandemic and measures in place. This update serves to enable Dutch businesses with general information and multiple web links to make better-informed decisions. You can find the update created by the Netherlands Embassy here.

In addition to this economic update we would like to provide an overview of useful websites based on the type of questions we receive. In case you have suggestions for useful additions to this list, kindly share them with us by sending us an email: dar-lnv@minbuza.nl.

• For Dutch entrepreneurs that are doing business in African countries, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency made an overview of frequently asked questions about COVID-19 in Africa in Dutch.
• The Netherlands Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the Netherlands Enterprise Agency published an overview of measures to help Dutch businesses that are affected by COVID-19 here.
• The European Commission’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic includes a number of restrictions to transport, which can be found on the website of the European Commission.
• Find out what the European Union in Tanzania is doing in response to COVID-19 on their twitter account.
• The Tanzania Investment Centre has executed a COVID-19 economic impact assessment survey on investments. The survey can be found here. As soon as the results are published, we will share them on this page.
• Kindly find the press statement issued by the Bank of Tanzania, to approve policy measures to cushion the economy from effect of COVID-19 here. Also take note that the bank of Tanzania merged Tanzania Investment Bank with Tanzania Postal Bank. See the article in The Guardian.
• The World Food Programme published a factsheet on the socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on food security. Kindly find the factsheet here.
• The Ministry of Agriculture of Tanzania has directed foreign firms to buy produce through auctions and authorised local markets. For more information see this article.

• The government of Tanzania has launched an online crop marketing tool to unite farmers, traders and buyers. The Tanzanian Minister for Agriculture said the portal will also be used for education on extension services. More information can be found here.

Events

Due to the COVID-19, many of the upcoming (agriculture) events have been rescheduled. As soon as new dates have been confirmed we will share them in our agenda

On 29 April the Netherlands Embassy in Tanzania organized a webinar on COVID-19 implications for Dutch businesses in Tanzania, you can find the recorded webinar here. If you are interested to join more Embassy webinars then kindly register by sending an email to dar-ea@minbuza.nl.

COVID-19 in the Netherlands

For questions regarding travel restriction for the Netherlands, travelling abroad and visas, have a look at information from the Netherlands government here. More general information about COVID-19 in the Netherlands can be found here.

Travel advice Tanzania

Find here the latest travel advice for Tanzania, in Dutch. Frequently asked questions in relation to the travel advice can be found on this website. 

Factsheet doing business in Tanzania

The Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Tanzania also developed a factsheet providing general guidance on doing business in Tanzania. You can find this factsheet with (non COVID-19 related) tips here.

Important note: Owing to changing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, the current situation and government measures in place are continuously evolving. Please continue to update yourself on the current state of affairs, including by verifying information with the relevant business associations or your local partner.

Together we will get through these tough times. Stay safe.

Questions for the agriculture department can be addressed directly to dar-lnv@minbuza.nl. Questions on general trade can be direct to dar-ea@minbuza.nl. This website links to the general contact information of the Netherlands Embassy in Dar es Salaam.
For the latest updates follow the agriculture department on twitter via @NLAgriTanzania and the Netherlands Embassy on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.