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Tag: Tanzania

  • Tanzania Signs Graphite Deal With Elon Musk’s Tesla

    Tanzania Signs Graphite Deal With Elon Musk’s Tesla

    Tesla, the American automotive and clean energy company, has signed a contract to purchase Anode Active Material (AAM) from Tanzania.

    Tesla signed the deal after reaching an agreement with a vertically integrated lithium-ion battery company, Magnis Energy Technologies Limited, and its Tanzanian subsidiaries, Uranex Tanzania Limited (Uranex) and Magnis Technologies Tanzania Limited (MTT).

    In a statement made earlier in the week, Uranex explained  Tesla has concluded on purchasing between 17,500 tonnes and 35,000 tonnes per annum of Anode Active Material (AAM) from Magnis Energy Technologies. The purchase would be made for three years starting from February 2025.

    Magnis Energy Technologies Limited, which is enlisted on the Australian Securities Exchange, is the sole owner of Uranex and MTT.

    Magnis Energy is developing a graphite mine in Tanzania where it plans to get “ultra-high purity natural flake graphite” from the operation.

    Read also: African Nickel Limited, QGC Collaborate on Sustainable Mining in South Africa

    The Graphite Deal With Tesla

    According to Uranex, “The deal arrives at a critical juncture for both companies. Tanzania as a country is set to benefit tremendously in terms of technology transfer, employment, among other aspects.”

    The statement further stated that the acquisition of completely processed graphite as well as spheronized graphite, is included in the agreement with Tesla. It says that Uranex will be in charge of supervising the Nachu Mining Project in Tanzania, which will produce high-quality natural flake graphite concentrate.

    “The graphite resource at Nachu is composed of natural flakes of various dimensions and its purification will not involve chemical processing hence it will be an environmentally friendly processing mechanism,” the statement reads.

    Tanzania will have the symbolic opportunity to collaborate with an iconic worldwide actor in the field of sustainable energy as a direct result of the strategic collaboration. 

    In addition, the statement says that as a result of the Nachu Graphite Project, Tanzania will be in a position to play a leading role in the worldwide push toward the utilization of renewable energy sources that are more environmentally friendly and sustainable. 

    In addition, Tanzania will have the opportunity to accelerate its long-term goals of becoming a center for the most cutting-edge industrial innovations as a result of the world-class facilities and infrastructure that are planned to be included in the Special Economic Zone.

    “Magnis guarantees to improve the livelihoods of Tanzanians by providing high quality jobs to the nationals and ensure contribution towards the country’s economic growth,” the statement says.

    It is stated that Magnis’s operating philosophy in Tanzania is to ensure that the growth of the Company is matched with the developmental goals of the society surrounding its Projects, including the Nachu Graphite Project. Specifically, this applies to the Nachu Graphite Project. 

    About Uranex

    Uranex is a subsidiary company that is wholly owned by Magnis Energy Technologies Ltd of Australia. Uranex’s Nachu Graphite Project is a well-known graphite resource that is on par with the best in the world. The Nachu Graphite Project is situated in Lindi, Tanzania, in close proximity to Ruangwa. 

    In addition to its graphite mining project in Tanzania, the company is also a participant in the Imperium3 New York consortium, which is comprised of several businesses that are collaborating on the construction of a lithium-ion battery cell gigafactory in New York. 

    In addition to this, Magnis is both a shareholder and a partner in the battery cell technology business C4V, which is headquartered in New York. 

    As a result, Tesla may find the battery projects to be beneficial, as the automaker is trying to secure a large number of battery cells in order to support its plan to construct 20 million electric vehicles per year by the year 2030. 

    Uranex has been granted a Special Mining License in Tanzania with the number 550/2015, which falls under the purview of the Ministry of Minerals. 

    This was made possible due to the fact that Magnis, through MTT, was awarded a licence to operate within a Special Economic Zone (SEZ) in Tanzania for a length of ten (10) years, and this licence will be renewed in May 2021.

    About Tesla

    Tesla, owned by serial entrepreneur Elon Musk is an American manufacturing company focused on electric automobiles, artificial intelligence, and clean energy. The multinational creates electric automobiles, solar panels, and batteries for cars and home power storage.

  • Tanzania Awards $2.2bn Contract To Build Standard Gauge Railway

    Tanzania Awards $2.2bn Contract To Build Standard Gauge Railway

    Tanzania has signed a $2.2bn contract with a Chinese firm for the construction of a final section of a Standard Gauge Railway (SGR). The railway will link the nation’s main port with its neighbouring countries.

    According to AFP the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda and Uganda, the 2,561km rail line will connect the Indian Ocean port of Dar es Salaam to Mwanza on Lake Victoria, With eventual spurs to Burundi.

    Read also: Tanzania-China 5G Partnership Boosts Digital Economy

    Tanzania President amia Suluhu Hassan said that the construction of the final section of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from Tabora to Kigoma in western Tanzania is expected to be completed in 2026, nine years after it started.

    “Upon completion of the SGR, Tanzania will be in a better position to utilise its strategic geographical positioning to facilitate cross-border trade,” she stated.

    Hassan noted that the investment of Tanzania in the SGR has now risen to $10.04bn, including the current contract.

    Airtel Africa Purchases 5G Spectrum In Tanzania

    Tanzania Standard Gauge Railway

    Once it becomes fully operational, the new rail line is expected to lower cargo transportation costs between the Dar es Salaam port and the DRC from a minimum of $6,000 per tonne to around $4,000.

    Hassan further stated that “We have to borrow for this important infrastructure and other sustainable development projects because we don’t have enough local resources.”

    Tanzania’s railway system consists of two existing networks, one of which will link the East African nation to Zambia and the other to Kenya and Uganda.

  • Tanzania abolishes the mobile money tax

    Tanzania abolishes the mobile money tax

    With effect from October 1, 2022, forward, the Tanzanian government will no longer impose a charge on mobile money transfers. The decision to repeal the tax came about three months after the administration reduced the transfer charge by 43 per cent.

    In addition to removing the price for mobile money transfers, Tanzania will also remove the fee for bank transfers and will waive the transaction fee for cash withdrawals made through bank agents and ATMs for amounts that do not exceed 30,000 Tanzanian shillings (US$12.81).

    An East African country’s Minister of Finance and Planning, Mwigulu Nchemba, told the country’s Parliament that fees would no longer be charged for a number of financial transactions, such as moving money from bank accounts to mobile networks, moving money within the same bank, and moving money to and from other banks.

    The minister went on to say that the government is looking for ways to save money on things like conferences, training, refreshments, and tours so that it can make up for the money it will lose when taxes are taken away.

    The minister told Parliament, “We’ve decided to look at the taxes to make life easier for everyone, encourage cash transactions, and get rid of double taxation.”

    Read also: Tanzania China 5g Partnershipoosts-digital-economy

    The maximum levy currently stands at TZS4,000 (US$1.72), but with the cut, the maximum levy will be reduced to TZS2,000 (US $0.86). Nchemba also announced a reduction of mobile money transaction costs of 10% to 50%. The current maximum levy is TZS4,000 (US $1.72).

    A brief history of the Tanzanian levies

    Because the Tanzanian government wants its people to use mobile money services again, it has decided to lower the fees that come with mobile money transfers. When the government began collecting transaction charges in the fiscal years 2021 and 2022, people stopped making use of the services.

    In June 2021, Tanzania amended the Electronic and Postal Communication Act (CAP 306) by imposing a levy on mobile money transactions that ranged from TZS10 (US$0.043) to TZS10,000 (US$4.04), depending on the amount sent and withdrawn. This was done in order to raise revenue for the government.

    The tax was met with criticism, and as a result, a significant number of Tanzanians stopped using mobile money services. The Tanzanian government decided in September 2021 to reduce the levy by thirty per cent. In June of this year, the levy was reduced even lower to TZS4,000, which is equivalent to $1.72 USD.

    As a direct result of these tariffs, the financial health of phone companies has also been hurt. In Tanzania, mobile money and airtime recharge were hit with new taxes, which hurt Vodacom even though it had a lot of growth in the fintech sector in 2021.

    Nigeria suspends the new 5% value-added telecom tax

    Taxation of mobile money in Africa

    Several African countries are considering putting taxes on digital financial services (DFS) like mobile money, which are growing quickly.

    In January, Cameroon instituted a levy of 0.2% on all mobile money transactions. The Conversation says that Ghana put a 1.5% e-levy on mobile transactions in May. This tax is hurting the poorest people in the country the most.

    According to Zimbabwe Independent, since 2018, Ugandans have had to pay a mobile money tax of 0.5%, while beginning in 2019, Zimbabweans have been required to pay a whopping 2% charge, which is the highest tax rate when compared to other countries.

  • Tanzania-China 5G Partnership Boosts Digital Economy

    Tanzania-China 5G Partnership Boosts Digital Economy

    The digital economy of Tanzania stands to benefit from China’s support in promoting ICT (information and communication technologies). The two parties have signed a partnership agreement that will promote the adoption and development of fifth-generation (5G) mobile technology in the country.

    The government of China has shown its readiness to allow investment in 5G network trials as a catalyst for its digital economy drive since Tanzania aims to build a digital economy achieved to spur development and increase employment, especially for young people through technological innovation.

    The agreement was signed by Tanzania’s Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Nape Nnauye, and the Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania, Chen Mingjian.
    The partnership shows that Tanzania recognizes that the backbone of the digital economy is hyper-connectivity, which means the growing inter-connectedness of people, organizations, and machines that results from the Internet, mobile technology, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

    Tanzania’s Economic Growth History

    Tanzania’s economy reflects sustained macroeconomic stability that has supported growth, in addition to the country’s rich natural endowments and strategic geographic position.
    Following two decades of sustained growth, Tanzania reached an important milestone in July 2020, when it formally graduated from low-income country to lower-middle-income country status. This growth is set to improve with China’s partnership.

    More About The 5G Partnership Talk

    This partnership came after the Tanzanian authorities allowed investments in 5G, as a sigh of relief for companies like Vodacom, which has been advertising its ambitions for this technology since 2020.

     

    Read Also : Telkom Kenya Plans Credit Program For SMEs

     

    Speaking on the partnership, China’s ambassador to Tanzania, Chen Mingjian, said; “We will continue to motivate investors in the telecommunications sector in our country so that they can deliver these services as stated by the minister (Nnauye),”

    While acknowledging that the issue of cyber security poses a number of challenges that China has been facing every waking hour, Ambassador Chen stressed that they still see the need to work with Tanzania to ensure cyber security is guaranteed by setting the environment and infrastructure that will enable Tanzania to respond to cyber threats.

    Tanzania’s Minister of Information and Communication Technology, Nape Nnauye said in response to the ambassador, “Basically we have also agreed to further improve the issue of online security, especially in the area of capacity building for our ICT experts, exchange technology programmes that will enable the development of cross-sectorial economic development sectors such as agriculture, health, internet business and so on.”

    China’s ambassador to Tanzania, Chen Mingjian, also assured the minister that she would send a message to other countries to support Tanzania in vying for the position which will see 13 African countries selected for ITU positions at the Bucharest conference in Romania to be held in September and October this year.

    Tanzania will therefore benefit from the experience and expertise of Chinese technology companies such as ZTE for the deployment of 5G and related technologies.
    In parallel, China supported Tanzania’s bid for membership in the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), while taking the opportunity to ask Tanzania for its support in various aspiring positions.

    The talks also focused on deploying telecommunications services in inaccessible areas, especially in rural areas, where China agreed to continue cooperating with Tanzania to ensure that the goal is achieved.