Category: The Citizen

Tim Draper, the venture capitalist behind early bets on Tesla and SpaceX, announced on social media that he was selling ‘my island in Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania’ for $7.9 million or best offer, inviting buyers to reach him directly by email.

No broker, no formal listing, no data room, just a price and an inbox. Within days, Tanzania’s Ministry of Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development issued its own quiet correction: the island is not his to sell.

That gap, between what an investor believes he holds and what the law grants him, is where this story earns its place in a column about capital and Tanzania, rather than one about billionaires and their eccentricities.

The legal position is straightforward once stated. Under the Land Act, all land in Tanzania is public land, vested in the President and held in trust for citizens. Foreign nationals and foreign owned entities cannot hold land directly.

What they can hold is a right of occupancy, typically granted for up to ninety-nine years, and even that route runs almost exclusively through TISEZA facilitated derivative rights, extended to a locally registered investment vehicle.

Draper’s asset, developed since 2004 into the ten-cottage Lupita Island resort, sits inside Firelight Safaris Ltd, and it is that company, not the island’s soil, that carries the transferable interest.

The ministry’s clarification made the distinction explicit: Firelight may transfer its investment to another investor, but only in accordance with the country’s laws and procedures. Draper can sell an interest in a company. He cannot sell Tanzania.

For an audience that structures cross border deals daily, none of this should be unfamiliar in principle. It is, however, a useful reminder that Tanzania’s regulatory scaffolding around foreign land tenure is not a gap investors can work around. It is fully built, and it rewards the capital that respects it.

In two decades of structuring land linked investment vehicles across East Africa, I have watched the same instinct trip up otherwise sophisticated investors: treating a right of occupancy as functionally equivalent to freehold, then discovering at exit that transferring it requires the same government sign off that granting it did in the first place.

There is an irony worth noting in Draper’s own words. He explained the sale by saying the family did not use the island enough, gorgeous but underused.

Under Tanzania’s investment framework, underuse is not merely a lifestyle inconvenience.

Rights of occupancy facilitated through the TISEZA typically carry conditions tied to development and ongoing utilisation, the same use it or lose it logic that governs mining and agricultural concessions elsewhere in the country.

An idle trophy asset is not simply an inefficient allocation of capital. Left unattended long enough, it can become a compliance question.

There is a second cost buried in how Draper chose to sell, separate from the ownership question entirely. A single social media post, an unlisted asking price and a personal inbox is not a sale process. It is an opening bid.

A comparable East African trophy resort taken through a properly brokered process, with independent valuation, a data room covering the TIC certificate, land use compliance, staff contracts and tourism licensing, and a structured, competitive bidding round, would very plausibly clear double that $7.9 million figure.

Buyers pay a premium for certainty. What Draper’s approach saves in commission it likely costs many times over in undiscovered value, because serious institutional buyers, the kind able to pay top price for a 110-acre lake resort with an existing operating history, do not transact off a viral post. They transact off diligence. Informality here is not only a legal risk for the seller. It is money left on the table.

The broader lesson for global capital eyeing East Africa is not that Tanzania is a difficult place to hold land. It is that Tanzania’s land and investment framework rewards exactly the kind of structured, TISEZA anchored, professionally advised entry and exit that institutional investors already practise everywhere else.

The investors who get burned here are rarely the ones who follow the process. They are the ones who assume informal arrangements, personal relationships or social media momentum can substitute for it.

Draper will most likely find a buyer for his stake in Firelight Safaris Ltd. The island itself will still belong to Tanzania regardless of what changes hands.

What this episode should leave with anyone watching East African markets is a sharper sense of where the real premium sits. Not in the asking price on X, but in the diligence nobody thought to skip.

Amne Suedi is the Managing Director of Shikana Investment and Advisory, Honorary Consul of Switzerland in Zanzibar, and Chair of the Switzerland-Tanzania Chamber of Commerce. Views expressed are strictly Amne Suedi’s only.

Dar es Salaam. Five Miss Universe Tanzania finalists will receive opportunities to study in Dubai, secure employment and own land under a Sh200 million partnership between Hexagon Properties and the pageant organisers.

Hexagon Properties Managing Director Godfrey Maduhu said the agreement was designed to turn the contestants’ platform and talents into long-term economic opportunities.

Under the programme, the five selected contestants will spend a year in Dubai studying real estate and land-related matters before returning to Tanzania for five years of employment with the company.

Each contestant will also receive a 1,000-square-metre plot in Mwasonga, Kigamboni, while the annual winner will have a house built for her.

Mr Maduhu said the initiative was intended to challenge the perception that beauty pageants are primarily about appearance and provide contestants with skills and opportunities beyond the competition.

The contestants will also take part in a social media competition on land-related topics, with the winner receiving Sh5 million.

Miss Universe Tanzania Director Millen Magese said the initiative was part of the organisation’s Prepare Beyond programme, which seeks to equip young women for life after school, their professions and the pageant.

‘These beauty competitions are not about displaying clothes and beauty, but about empowering young women for their future,’ she said.

Ms Magese said this was the second year of the programme, which encourages contestants to view the crown as a platform for career development and other opportunities.

Dar es Salaam. Motorists and industries using petroleum products are set to benefit from lower fuel prices after the Energy and Water Utilities Regulatory Authority (Ewura) reduced the prices of petrol and diesel by an average of Sh100 per litre for September.

Ewura has cut the price of petrol by Sh102 per litre and diesel by Sh101, reflecting movements in global oil prices at the time the fuel was ordered, although international prices remain volatile amid the continuing conflict in the Middle East.

In Dar es Salaam, a litre of petrol will now retail at Sh3,796, diesel at Sh3,877 and kerosene at Sh3,713, down from Sh3,898, Sh3,978 and Sh4,003, respectively, in August.

For fuel supplied through the Port of Tanga, petrol will sell at Sh3,872 per litre, diesel at Sh3,953 and kerosene at Sh3,789, compared with Sh3,959, Sh4,039 and Sh4,065, respectively, in August.

At the Port of Mtwara, petrol will retail at Sh3,909 per litre, diesel at Sh3,990 and kerosene at Sh3,825, down from Sh3,990, Sh4,070 and Sh4,096, respectively.

The latest price cuts come amid fluctuations in global oil prices between May and August, according to data from CountryEconomy based on the Europe Brent Spot Price FOB.

The average price of a barrel of Brent crude rose to $107.14 in May before falling to $85.40 in June and $83.76 in July, representing a decline of about 22 percent between May and July.

However, prices rebounded in August to an average of $91.15 per barrel, an 8.8 percent increase from July, although they remained about 15 percent below the May level.

Ewura said oil companies were free to sell petroleum products at competitive prices, provided they did not exceed the prescribed cap or fall below the applicable minimum price.

The prices were calculated in accordance with the Ewura Petroleum Products Pricing Regulations, 2022, published in Government Notice No. 57 on January 28, 2022, and subsequent amendments published in Government Notice No. 761A on October 30, 2023, as well as the 2024 Bulk Procurement System Regulations.

The regulator urged all fuel stations to clearly display current prices, discounts and other commercial incentives offered to customers.

‘Where there is a choice, customers are advised to buy petroleum products from stations offering lower prices to promote competition,’ Ewura said.

The authority warned that selling fuel without clearly displaying prices was an offence and that stations failing to comply with legal requirements would face penalties.

Ewura also directed fuel retailers to issue receipts generated through Electronic Fiscal Pump Printers (EFPP), while customers were advised to ensure they received receipts showing the station’s name, date, type of fuel purchased and price per litre.

The receipts can be used as evidence in the event of complaints over fuel being sold above the prescribed price or concerns over the quality of petroleum products.

They will also help facilitate the collection of government taxes generated from petroleum product sales, Ewura said.

Tanzania’s film industry is watching closely after the Tanzania Film Board issued a public call to four of Bongo Movie’s most recognisable names, Kajala Masanja, Irene Uwoya, Aunty Ezekiel and Jacqueline Wolper.

In a brief social media notice, the Board directed the four actresses to report to its offices at 2pm on Monday, September 7, 2026.

The call comes as the four continue to command attention through A-List, a DStv entertainment production bringing them together for candid conversations about their lives and experiences in the public eye.

The notice also follows a recent call by Minister for Home Affairs Patrobas Katambi for artistes and content creators to exercise greater responsibility in their use of social media. Katambi said some online statements and behaviour had undermined the dignity of Tanzanians and created a negative image in society.

He said those involved had been forgiven for past offences but warned that everyone must follow social media laws and regulations.

The reason for the Film Board’s call, however, remains unclear.

So, what is the Tanzania Film Board calling the four A-List stars for?

Dodoma. Parliament has approved the country’s accession to the Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI), a move the government expects will help it attract climate finance, develop green investment projects, and strengthen expertise in managing environmental programmes.

Minister of State in the Vice President’s Office (Union and Environment), Mr Hamad Yussuf Masauni, made the revelation in Parliament on Thursday, September 3, 2026.

He said the GGGI membership would give Tanzania access to technical support and financing opportunities as the country seeks to balance economic expansion with environmental protection and climate resilience.

‘GGGI is an international institution that enables member countries to implement development plans based on green economic growth to achieve sustainable development goals and the objectives of the Paris Agreement on greenhouse gas emissions reduction,’ said Mr Masauni.

The proposal comes at a time when Tanzania is increasingly linking environmental sustainability with its long-term economic strategy.

The country’s Development Vision 2050 places climate resilience and environmental conservation among its strategic priorities, while the government has been promoting green transformation, clean energy, and climate-related investment.

For Tanzania, one of the most significant potential gains from GGGI membership is not simply environmental expertise but improved access to capital.

Mr Masauni said membership would strengthen the country’s ability to identify and prepare environmental and climate projects, while helping domestic institutions obtain the accreditation needed to access international environmental and climate funds.

It could also expand opportunities for green bonds and concessional loans, areas that are becoming increasingly important as developing countries face growing financing needs for climate adaptation and low-carbon infrastructure.

‘GGGI was established to cooperate with member countries in preparing environmental conservation and climate-change projects, supporting domestic institutions to obtain accreditation in managing funds from international environmental and climate-change funds, and facilitating investment in green bonds,’ he said.

The significance for Tanzania is that many climate projects fail to move beyond the planning stage because governments and institutions struggle to develop projects that meet the technical and financial requirements of international financiers.

GGGI membership, therefore, could help bridge part of that gap by combining project preparation, institutional capacity building, and access to green finance.

Mr Masauni said the benefits would extend beyond environmental programmes to employment, investment, and Tanzania’s international standing.

He said the country expected membership to increase employment opportunities for Tanzanians, improve the skills of local professionals, and strengthen Tanzania’s diplomatic influence in political, economic, and environmental affairs.

‘Membership will increase the availability of employment opportunities for Tanzanians,’ he said, adding that it would also strengthen research and improve the experience and productivity of local experts in green growth.

That economic dimension is significant because the government is increasingly treating environmental policy as part of its development agenda rather than as a separate conservation issue. Earlier this year, Mr Masauni said environmental sustainability and climate resilience were central to the implementation of Vision 2050.

The government has also identified areas such as clean cooking, carbon trading, environmental restoration, and climate-resilient development as potential areas for investment and economic opportunity.

According to the government’s submission, Tanzania intends to join GGGI as a participating member rather than a contributing member.

The distinction matters because the treaty defines a contributing member as one that makes a contribution of at least $15 million over three years or $10 million over the first two years of membership.

A participating member is one that does not meet that contribution threshold.

The government says Tanzania would nevertheless assume certain obligations under the agreement. These include granting privileges and immunities to GGGI if the organisation establishes an office in the country, in accordance with the treaty and applicable law.

The accession process requires a country to submit an instrument of accession to the GGGI Director-General. Under the treaty, membership takes effect 30 days after the instrument is deposited.

Tanzania’s proposed accession would also bring it closer to a growing African network within GGGI.

Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda are already members, while other African countries have either joined or expressed interest in joining the organisation.

For Tanzania, regional participation could provide opportunities to exchange experience on climate finance, green infrastructure, and policy reforms at a time when East African economies are facing similar pressures from climate change and the transition towards cleaner forms of production.

GGGI’s broader role is to help developing and emerging economies design and implement green-growth strategies, making the organisation potentially relevant to Tanzania’s ambitions to attract investment while maintaining environmental sustainability.

Mr Masauni told Parliament that Tanzania would not be able to enter reservations to the treaty because Article 23 prohibits reservations when signing or ratifying the agreement.

He said the proposed accession was consistent with Tanzania’s existing commitments under international environmental agreements, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

‘Considering the benefits that the United Republic of Tanzania will obtain from ratifying the agreement, the Parliament of the United Republic of Tanzania resolves to ratify the Agreement on the Establishment of the Global Green Growth Institute,’ said Mr Masauni.

The proposed membership, therefore, represents more than another international environmental commitment.

For Tanzania, the bigger test will be whether membership can translate into a stronger pipeline of investable green projects, greater access to affordable climate finance, and practical opportunities for businesses and communities to participate in the country’s green transition.

Dar es Salaam. The government has urged mining equipment manufacturers and engineering firms to design investments that directly support small and medium-scale miners, emphasizing that local manufacturing will significantly curb reliance on imports.

The call was made on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, as Mining Engineering Services Tanzania Limited (MES), a subsidiary of the Vinmart Group of Companies, continues construction of a Sh35 billion plant in Kigamboni, Dar es Salaam.

The facility will produce specialised equipment for underground mining operations, aimed at import substitution and deepening local participation across the mining value chain.

Mining Commission Commissioner and Chairperson of the Tanzanian Local Content Committee in the Mining Sector, Dr Theresia Numbi, stressed that manufactured products must address the practical needs of small and medium miners nationwide.

‘Investment in the mining sector should not end at extraction activities alone, but should build a broader business chain that involves local manufacturers, particularly small and medium miners,’ stated Dr Numbi.

She reaffirmed the government’s commitment to supporting investments that spur sectoral growth and drive broader economic development.

MES managing director, Mr Pulin Manek, noted that the investment focuses on domestic production of equipment currently sourced from overseas, alongside strategic export plans targeting regional markets.

‘The reason for establishing this factory is to help Tanzania reduce dependence on frequently consumed items used in underground mining that are imported from abroad,’ explained Mr Manek.

He stated that the plant’s design capacity deliberately exceeds current domestic demand to cater to future operational expansion in Tanzanian underground mining.

‘We are producing more than the country’s current demand because we are looking at Tanzania’s future requirements in underground mining as well as opportunities in the wider region,’ he added.

Addressing supply chain efficiencies, Mr Manek observed that imported equipment typically takes eight to 16 weeks to arrive, whereas domestic manufacturing will reduce delivery lead times to a few days.

The facility will also generate employment and advance local technical skills in manufacturing, welding, and engineering, while positioning Tanzania as a regional supply hub for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

‘Tanzania is well positioned to become a manufacturing and distribution hub for these goods due to the presence of the Port of Dar es Salaam,’ stressed Mr Manek.

Dar es Salaam. The High Court’s Dar es Salaam Main Registry has sentenced Ms Greenadia Isaya, alias Lulu, to death by hanging for the murder of her landlord’s six-year-old grandchild, Elivira Eliud.

The incident occurred on April 2, 2025, in Kimara Temboni, Kinondoni District, Dar es Salaam.

Ms Isaya was charged with murder under Section 196 of the Penal Code. To prove its case, the prosecution called 10 witnesses and tendered four exhibits.

Delivering judgment on August 28, 2026, Judge Bahati Salema ruled that the prosecution had proved the charge beyond reasonable doubt.

The court based its finding on the convict’s extrajudicial confession, oral admissions made to police officers, and corroborating circumstantial evidence.

The incident

The victim’s grandmother, Ms Davina Daniel, the landlord, testified as the third prosecution witness.

She told the court that she entered the room and found the child’s body on a mattress with a deep neck wound, surrounded by blood splatters and a knife nearby.

A post-mortem examination confirmed that the child died from massive blood loss caused by a severe sharp-force injury that severed major blood vessels.

The fourth witness, local leader Bakari Hamisi, testified to seeing the child’s body on the mattress in a pool of blood.

The deceased’s father, Mr Eliud Dominick, testified that he travelled from Mbeya to identify his daughter’s body at Mloganzila Hospital on April 4, 2025, where he observed a large wound on the right side of her neck.

According to the prosecution, the convict surrendered to police shortly after the incident, reported killing the child, and led officers to the scene.

In addition to her oral admission, prosecution evidence showed she voluntarily signed a caution statement confessing to the crime.

Defence

In her defence, Ms Isaya denied killing the child or issuing any caution or extrajudicial confession statements.

She testified that she was at home resting on her day off when the incident allegedly occurred, though she acknowledged knowing the child as a co-resident.

Ruling

Judge Salema dismissed the defence, stating that it failed to raise reasonable doubt against the prosecution’s case.

‘The defence side has not raised any doubt regarding the prosecution’s case. Therefore, I find that all essential elements of the offence of murder have been proved without any doubt,’ ruled Judge Salema.

‘After careful consideration of the evidence from both sides, the exhibits, the discrepancies identified in the testimony, and the applicable law, I am satisfied that Elivira died from an unlawful act committed by Greenadia,’ she added.

Judge Salema noted that the convict intentionally inflicted the fatal neck injury with a sharp object, fully aware that death or grievous bodily harm would result.

Convicting Ms Isaya under Section 196 of the Penal Code, the judge noted that the law provides a mandatory sentence for murder and accordingly sentenced her to suffer death by hanging.

Dodoma. Tanzania will begin a pre-feasibility study for a planned electricity substation in Igunga District as the government seeks to strengthen power supply in the area, Deputy Energy Minister Salome Makamba said on Thursday.

Ms Makamba told Parliament on September 3, 2026, that the state-run Tanzania Electric Supply Company (Tanesco) had completed a 41-kilometre, 33-kilovolt power line linking Lusu substation to Ziba, as well as a switching station at Ziba.

‘The construction of the switching station in Ziba has been completed and has continued to improve electricity availability and distribution in various areas of Igunga District,’ said Ms Makamba.

She was responding to a question from Manonga lawmaker Abubakar Alli Omari on when construction of the proposed Ziba substation would begin, following a commitment made by President Samia Suluhu Hassan during the 2025 General Election campaign.

Ms Makamba said the government was continuing efforts to strengthen the district’s electricity network.

‘Tanesco is expected to begin a pre-feasibility study for the construction of the Igunga substation,’ she said, adding that the study would help prepare the project for implementation.

The investment is expected to improve the reliability of electricity supply and support economic activity in the district.

Dar es Salaam. TotalEnergies Marketing Tanzania Limited has installed a gas-powered kitchen and improved road safety infrastructure at Buguruni Viziwi Primary School, supporting cleaner cooking and safer access for pupils with hearing disabilities.

The improvements were handed over yesterday after the school emerged the national winner of the 2025 VIA Programme, a road safety initiative implemented by TotalEnergies in partnership with TotalEnergies Foundation and Nafasi Art Space.

The new kitchen replaces the school’s previous reliance on firewood, which teachers said affected the efficiency of food preparation and practical cooking lessons for its 264 pupils.

Assistant Headteacher Richard Kweka said the new facility had improved both activities.

‘Having this gas kitchen will increase efficiency in practical cooking lessons. Previously, we used firewood, but now 60 litres of water can boil in about 45 minutes,’ he said.

The project also supports the Government’s Clean Cooking Energy Strategy, which targets 80 percent of Tanzanians using clean cooking energy by 2034.

TotalEnergies Director of Legal and Corporate Affairs Getrude Mpangile said the improvements were based on recommendations made by pupils through the VIA Programme.

‘We are here to celebrate their contribution to improving road safety and hand over improvements based on their own recommendations,’ she said.

The company also installed road safety signs and markings around the school and a wall mural carrying safety messages in sign language.

Kweka said the measures had helped address safety concerns around the school, where inadequate signage had exposed pupils to risks.

He recalled an incident last year in which a pupil was knocked down by a motorcycle and lost two teeth.

‘The VIA competition has helped us get safety signs that have helped reduce motorists’ speed near the school gate,’ he said.

He called for a speed hump near the school to further control motorists’ speed.

Buguruni Ward Education Officer Ayoub Twahil said the gas kitchen would reduce the school’s dependence on polluting cooking fuels while giving pupils an opportunity to develop practical cooking skills.

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania is seeking to strengthen its position as a medical tourism destination after Aga Khan Hospital (AKH) partnered with India’s Yashoda Group of Hospitals and Tunlink to introduce advanced urology and male reproductive health services.

The partnership is being implemented through a three-day specialised urology camp at AKH in Dar es Salaam, which has also introduced Rezum water vapour therapy for men suffering from an enlarged prostate.

The minimally invasive procedure, which uses water vapour to target and reduce enlarged prostate tissue, is being offered in Tanzania for the first time.

The initiative has attracted patients from across the region, including the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Burundi, Rwanda and Comoros, while Tanzanian patients from Mbeya, the Lake Zone, Dodoma, Dar es Salaam and Arusha have also expressed interest.

Consultant Urologist at AKH Dr Isaac Mawalla said the initiative was aimed at expanding access to specialised urological care while strengthening local expertise.

‘This camp is an opportunity to provide highly specialised clinical education, expert advice and advanced treatment. Tanzanian men can now access specialised screening and treatment using advanced equipment without having to travel abroad,’ he said.

Dr Mawalla said the partnership could help reverse the trend of patients from Tanzania and other East African countries travelling to India and Western countries for specialised treatment.

Head of Clinical Operations at AKH Murtaza Mukhtar said bringing advanced services closer to patients supports the Government’s ambition of positioning Tanzania as a medical tourism hub for East, Central and Southern Africa.

‘By providing these specialised services locally, we are reversing medical tourism. This keeps patients closer to their families, reduces the cost of treatment and travel, and contributes to the national economy,’ he said.

The introduction of Rezum therapy provides an additional treatment option for patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), a condition in which the prostate enlarges and can obstruct urine flow.

Dr Husam Uddin, a urologist at AKH, said the procedure uses sterile water vapour to target prostate tissue causing the obstruction.

‘We are introducing newer techniques that are being used globally. Rezum therapy is minimally invasive, which can mean fewer complications and a shorter recovery period for suitable patients,’ he said.

Beyond treating patients, the partnership is intended to strengthen local capacity and reduce the need for overseas referrals by enabling procedures and follow-up care to be provided in Tanzania.

Yashoda Hospitals Manager for International Services Ujjwai Sharma said the collaboration was designed as a long-term partnership rather than a one-off medical camp.

‘Our main objective is to establish a long-term collaboration. Patients do not necessarily need to travel abroad for urological conditions that can be screened and treated locally,’ he said.

Mr Sharma said the partnership would also focus on post-treatment follow-up to ensure patients continued to receive appropriate care.

The initiative comes as Tanzania seeks to expand specialised healthcare services and retain spending by patients who would otherwise travel abroad for treatment, while also attracting patients from neighbouring countries.