Doing business in Tanzania: updates regarding COVID-19

The outbreak of COVID-19 has consequences for entrepreneurs doing business in or with Tanzania. We provide an overview of useful information intended for everyone involved in agribusiness in Tanzania. The agriculture team of the embassy of the Netherlands can answer further questions via dar-lnv@minbuza.nl.

We aim to continue our regular work as much as possible.

Update 10 July 2020

  • The Government of Tanzania has shared no updates on the number of corona cases since 29 April 2020.
  • The Netherlands business community adopted, with full support from the government, a strategy for enhancing trade and investment in Africa. Tuesday 14 July 2020 the Netherlands Embassy in Tanzania will have a webinar organized by NABC on how to work on this strategy in Tanzania – Click here for more information or to register.
  • Competition for the air-cargo business in Tanzania is set to intensify, with Warnercom Tanzania, a new player, looking to launch the first scheduled cargo-only flights from the country in mid-September - See more in this article in the Citizen.
  • The Southern African Development Community Council of Ministers has approved the revised guidelines on harmonization and facilitation of cross-border transport operations during the COVID-19 period. – See more in this article in the Daily News.
  • KLM and Emirates are to resume their operations in Tanzania. See more in this article in the Citizen
  • It is estimated that Tanzania’s foreign direct investment inflows increased by $56 million last year. For more information see the World Investment Report published by UNCTAD.
  • The following instruments have published a Call for Applications:
    • The Netherlands Enterprise Agency has opened a Fund Against Child Labour for international Dutch companies that want to end child labour in their value chain (deadline for application is 5 November 15:00 CET 2020) – See more here.
    • The Netherlands Enterprise Agency has opened a Fund for Responsible Business Conduct (RBC) for Dutch partnerships (deadline for application is 30 September 2020 12:00 CET) -  See more here.
    • A Kickstart voucher is available for internationally active companies in the Netherlands. With this voucher an external advisor can be hired to support your company to reduce the impact of Covid-19 on your company. See more here.
    • The Future For Nature Foundation is searching worldwide for young, talented, and ambitious conservationists for the prestigious Future For Nature Awards 2021 (deadline 15th September 2020) – See more here.

COVID-19 in Tanzania

The Tanzanian Ministry of Health is the main source of information regarding COVID-19 in Tanzania. Information is shared by the Ministry of Health via their website and occasionally on their twitter account. Check their website and social media for any updates.

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.
  • Tanzania Agriculture Development Bank lowers interest rates from 12% to 9% - See this article in the Daily News.
  • 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.

On Tuesday 14 July 2020 the Netherlands Embassy in Tanzania will have another webinar organized by NABC – Click here for more information or to register.

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 FacebookInstagram and Twitter.