Despite not being home to any of Africa’s five largest economies, East Africa has proven itself to be one of its most exciting economic hubs.
The stars seem to be aligning for Tanzania, as the East African country aims to become the region’s next $100 billion economy.
Emerging as a vital link between landlocked nations and international markets, its direct access to the Indian Ocean has opened up vast commercial opportunity amid an industrialization agenda focused on accelerating trade.
Growing at over 5% annually, the International Monetary Fund projects Tanzania’s GDP to be over $94 billion, while the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) 2025 World Investment Report identified foreign direct investment (FDI) to have risen from $1.34 billion in 2023 to $1.72 billion in 2024.
As to when the country could hit the $100 billion milestone, Amran Bhuzohera, an economist and investment consultant at Tanzania Investment and Consultant Group Ltd (TICGL), reveals to FORBES AFRICA that while optimistic estimations point to as early as 2026 or 2027, “a more realistic assessment, given the structural challenges that still need to be addressed, is between 2028 and 2030”.
Meanwhile, Professor Martin Chegere, Head of Applied Economics at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, tells FORBES AFRICA that “Tanzania, growing annually around 5.5% to 6%, is well positioned to surpass the $100 billion threshold by the end of the 2027/28 financial year,” but admits that exchange rate movements and global economic conditions could influence timings.
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Despite attracting sizeable growth, the business environment needs improving, Chegere adds, mentioning that, to unlock higher levels of private investment, the government needs to prioritize reforms that streamline regulation, deepen capital markets, improve tax administration, and expand digital and financial inclusion.
Adding to the list, Bhuzohera highlights systemic challenges, including policy inconsistencies, regulatory hurdles, bureaucratic delays, and perceptions of risk that affect capital formalization and long-term commitment.
Tanzania’s trajectory seems to have kept a steady pace amid the administrative logjams.
Though agriculture “still accounts for a substantial share of output and employs the majority of the workforce”, as Bhuzohera shares, several industries are gaining momentum, such as mining, tourism, telecommunications, finance, and construction.
An emerging market rebranding itself, the country boasts a number of ongoing projects.
Alongside modernizing its ports and roads, Tanzania is nearing completion of the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP), designed to transport Ugandan oil to Tanga port, and is in the midst of building the over $10 billion Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) network that will link four neighboring landlocked nations—Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo—to its waterways.
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