Africa-Press – Tanzania. TODAY Tanzania marks 61 anniversary of the Union that came about after the Tanganyika and Zanzibar merger.
The United Republic of Tanzania was formed on 26 April 1964. Mwalimu Julius Nyerere became the first President and Sheikh Abeid Amani Karume became the First VicePresident and Chairman of the Revolutionary Council.
Zanzibar, also a former British colony, had become an independent constitutional monarchy under Sultan Jam- shid bin Abdulla on 10 Decem- ber 1963. The African majority led a revolution against Arab control on 12 January 1964, establishing a new government led by Mzee Karume.
The formalisation of the Union was agreed in the Articles of the Union, which outlined 11 areas of cooperation between the two regions. These were the constitution, foreign relations, defence, police, emergency powers, citizen- ship and immigration, external trade, public service, tax related matters and harbours and civil aviation.
The Union is an outcome of a long history of kinship and relationship as well as that of common struggles in the economic, social and cultural fields between the people of Tanganyika and Zanzibar.
That history of close cooperation among the people of both sides of the Union and the special political and economic needs after the end of colonialism emboldened the leaders of the two countries, Mwalimu Nyerere and Sheikh Karume to establish the United Republic of Tanzania.
On the economic front, one of important sectors in the Union, where the country has marked great strides is natural resources development.
The main natural resources in Tanzania are land, rivers, lakes, the ocean and forests/ woodlands. Natural resources are used for crops cultivation, grazing (for livestock), wild- life, wood (as an energy source and for building materials), fishing and minerals’ mining.
Land Tenure
The main forms of Land Tenure in Tanzania today are Right of Occupancy – a title to the use and occupation of land; Customary or Traditional Land Tenure; and Communal Land Tenure.
In practice, most agricultural land is held under either customary or communal systems and most of agricultural land is not surveyed. Few users have documents showing their legal rights and duties or even boundaries.
Discovery of other natural resources
Apart from wealth in agriculture, forestry and wildlife land, Tanzania is also very rich in minerals such as gold, dia- mond, iron, coal, nickel, tanzanite, uranium and natural gas. Recently natural offshore gas deposits have been discovered. The tribes in Tanzania can also weave, knit or sew well, as it is part of their cultural traditions.
Overview of the Mining Sector
Tanzania is among the countries having abundant mineral resources. The data base indicates that the minerals found in Tanzania are grouped into several major categories.
Those are Metallic Minerals, which include gold, iron ore, nickel, copper, cobalt and silver.
Gemstones, which include diamonds, tanzanite, ruby, gar- nets, pearl etc.
Industrial Minerals, which include limestone, soda ash, gypsum, salt and phosphates;
Energy source Minerals, such as coal and uranium; and Construction minerals, such as aggregates, gravel, sand and dimension stones.
Tanzania has a great potential particularly for gold, base metals, diamonds, ferrous minerals and a wide variety of gemstones, including the world-renowned Tanzanite (blue zoisite) occurring in the Proterozoic metamorphic rocks of the Usagaran and Ubendian Systems.
Other gemstones mined in the country include ruby, rho- dolite, sapphire, emerald, amethyst, chrysoprase, peridot and tormaline. Recently, a major alluvial occurrence was dis- covered in the southern region of Ruvuma, Mtwara and Lindi. Varieties include chrysoberyl, spinels, sapphire, garnets, zir- cons and diamonds.
Coal, uranium and various industrial minerals such as soda, kaolin, tin, gypsum, phosphate and dimension stones are plentiful. Coal resources similar in quality to the Gondwana coals of southern Africa occur in the Ruhuhu and Songwe-Kiwira basins in Limestone and dolomite-good resources of high purity occur in the white marble deposit of the Morogoro region. Poten- tial for dimension stone and refractory grade limestone is therefore excellent.
A variety of clays – benton- ite, kaolin and fullers earth – in sizeable deposits have been identified and are only scant- ily exploited. The Pugu kaolin deposit located some 30 kilo- metres West of Dar es Salaam has a great potential for devel-opment.
Evaporates and saline deposits of economic signifi- cance are associated with the rift valley lakes. Investigations of the Soda ash deposits at Lake Natron revealed a potential recovery of over one mil- lion tonnes a year.
Graphite occurs in highgrade gneisses mainly in the Usagaran system. Sufficient reserves have been identified at Mirerani, northern Tanzania, for a 40-year operation at a mining rate of 15,000 tonnes per year of high grade flake graphite of 97-98 per cent purity.
Basemetals are found in a belt running from Kagera through Kigoma to Mbeya, Ruvuma and Mtwara regions: recent evaluations have so far outlined contained resources of 500,000 tonnes nickel, 75,000 tonnes copper and 45,000 tonnes cobalt.
Gold and diamonds have always been the mainstay of the country’s mineral production. In fact Tanzania has been a significant diamond producer for several decades, with the bulk of production coming from the Mwadui area where commercial production began in 1925. But gold is the resource currently offering one of the best areas for investment.
The current perceived opportunities range from for- mer mines in the Archaean Greenstone belts around Lake Victoria, Proterozoic rocks and conceptual grass root plays in Karoo and younger rocks.
Investigation has mainly been focused on the greenstone belts around Lake Victoria with particular attention on the shear hosted gold mineralisation associated with banded iron formations (BIF), tufts and volcano-sedimentary exha- latives. Several “world class” gold deposits have already been discovered in the Lake Victoria Goldfields and are at different stages of development. These deposits have reached various stages of development.
Employment in the Mining Sector
Employment is one of the crucial areas where the min- ing sector has brought sig- nificant changes. By March 2024, the mining sector had created approximately 19,356 jobs, with 97 per cent of these jobs going to Tanzanians. This equates to 18,853 jobs for Tan- zanians and 505 jobs for foreigners.
The government has estab- lished laws and regulations prioritising Tanzanians in job opportunities arising from min- ing activities to ensure citizens gain employment and income.
National parks
Tanzania also boasts a rich natural heritage with numerous national parks and protected areas, showcasing diverse landscapes and wildlife. These areas are vital for biodiversity conservation and ecotourism. The country is home to iconic national parks like Serengeti, Ngorongoro Crater and Kili- manjaro, along with game reserves and other protected areas. A total of them is 21 as of now.
About 61 years ago the Father of the Nation, the late Mwalimu Nyerere, recognised the integral part wildlife plays in this country.
In September 1961 at a symposium on the Conserva- tion of Nature and Natural Resources, he gave a speech that laid the foundation for con- servation in post-independent Tanzania. The extract of that speech has become known as the Arusha Manifesto.
“The survival of our wild- life is a matter of grave con- cern to all of us in Africa. These wild creatures amid the wild places they inhabit are not only important as a source of wonder and inspiration but are an integral part of our natural resources and our future liveli- hood and well-being.
“In accepting the trustee- ship of our wildlife, we sol- emnly declare that we will do everything in our power to make sure that our children’s grandchildren will be able to enjoy this rich and precious inheritance.”
“The conservation of wild- life and wild places calls for specialist knowledge, trained manpower and money and we look to other nations to cooperate with us in this impor- tant task – the success or fail- ure of which not only affects the continent of Africa but the rest of the world as well,” Mwalimu said.
Establishment
The Tanganyika National Parks Ordinance CAP (412) of 1959 established the organisa- tion now known as Tanzania National Parks (TANAPA) and Serengeti became the first National Park.
Currently, TANAPA is governed by the National Parks Act Chapter 282 of the 2002 revised edition of the Laws of the United Republic of Tanzania. Conservation in Tanzania is governed by the Wildlife Conservation Act of 1974, which allows the Government to establish protected areas and outlines how they are organ- ised and managed.
National Parks represent the highest level of resource protection that can be provided. By September 2019, TANA- PA has grown to 21 national parks, covering approximately 99,306.5 square Kilometres.
The national parks are Serengeti, Ruaha, Lake Man- yara and Arusha National Park. Others include Kiliman- jaro National Park, Mkomazi, Gombe, Katavi, Ruaha, Kitulo, Saadani, Rubondo Island, Kitulo, Gombe, Tarangire, Mahale Mountains, Lake Manyara and Mikumi National Park. There are newer parks like Ugalla River and Kigosi.
In 2023, tourist arrivals to Tanzania increased by 24.3 per cent to a record-breaking 1,808,205 from 1,454,920 tourists in 2022, 922,692 in 2021 and 616,491 in 2020.
Tanzania’s tourism receipts reached a record-high USD 3,368.7 million in 2023, com- pared to USD 2,527.8 million in 2022 (USD 1,310.3 million in 2021). This increase is con- sistent with the rise in the num- ber of tourist arrivals.
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