TobaccoReporter logo

Tag: Tanzania

  • Tanzania Targets Illicit Drug Sales

    Tanzania Targets Illicit Drug Sales

    Image: KPad

    Tanzania initiated a nationwide operation targeting all illicit drug selling points, pharmacies and entertainment venues where shisha is widely available, says the Drug Control and Enforcement Authority (DCEA), according to the Xinhua News Agency.

    The operation will encompass land and sea areas, according to DCEA Commissioner Aretas Lyimo.

    Lyimo noted that recent operations uncovered widespread cannabis cultivation in the Mara and Morogoro regions, and there were high instances of drug-related cases in Kilimanjaro and Tanga.

    “The operations will encompass drug farms, border areas, distribution points and usage sites, including bars,” said Lyimo. “Anyone found using drugs, including shisha, will face legal consequences.”

  • Tanzania Tobacco Crop Size Up

    Tanzania Tobacco Crop Size Up

    Photo: Taco Tuinstra

    Tanzania’s tobacco crop increased to 122.86 million kg in the 2023-2024 growing season, reports Daily News, citing a statement from Agriculture Minister Hussein Bashe. As of December 2022, Tanzania had earned $316 million from tobacco exports. The country aims to sell $400 million this season.

    Bashe expressed confidence that Tanzania would produce 200 million kg in 2024-2025

    Tanzania’s recent production figures make it Africa’s second-largest producer after Zimbabwe, which harvested nearly 300 million kg in the 2022-2023 season. Other prominent African tobacco producers are Malawi 121 million kg), Mozambique (65.8 million kg), Zambia (44 million kg) and Uganda (13 million kg).

    Bashe applauded Tanzania’s farmers’ associations and tobacco companies, stating that for the first time more than 50 percent of tobacco has been bought and sold abroad by local companies.

    “It was not an easy journey,” he said. “I thank all the Tobacco Board workers; we dreamed, we did it, keep pushing. We will become Africa’s No 1 producer.”

  • Dollar Shortage Delays Payments

    Dollar Shortage Delays Payments

    Image: Tobacco Reporter archive

    Tanzanian tobacco farmers are receiving delayed payments due to a shortage of U.S. dollars, reports BNN.

    Stanley Mnozya, director general of the Tanzania Tobacco Board, acknowledged that the shortage of U.S. dollars has made paying farmers difficult. Higher than anticipated tobacco production surpassing market demand has exacerbated the situation.

    To address the situation, Hussein Bashe, minister for agriculture, held a meeting involving farmers, tobacco buyers and banks. The minister said farmers’ payments will be finalized by the end of July. The government is making efforts to ensure the funds are available in U.S. dollars. 

    Alliance One Tobacco Tanzania Limited (AOTTL), however, has successfully paid more than $71.9 million to over 12,000 contracted tobacco growers this season. AOTTL made direct payments of $1.72 million as crop cess to various districts and aims to expedite payments to contracted farmers, surpassing the required 14-day payment period set by law.

    Delayed payments are causing financial difficulties and affecting farmers’ preparations for the upcoming season. 

  • Tanzania Bank Pledges to Support Farmers

    Tanzania Bank Pledges to Support Farmers

    Image: Tobacco Reporter archive

    Tanzania’s CRDB Bank promised to continue improving agriculture financing, reports The Citizen.

    The bank has loaned TZS129 billion ($53.6 million) to tobacco farming from January 2023 to June 2023.

    “We recognize that agriculture is the backbone of our national economy, and we have dedicated significant efforts to support it, including our successful Fahari Kilimo account with numerous benefits,” said Xavery Makwi, CRDB’s director of credit, at the opening ceremony of the bank’s new branch in Igunga. “This branch will be the gateway to economic opportunities for the people of Igunga, helping them improve their income.”

    “Many residents of this district depend on agriculture, so the opening of this branch will enhance productivity if more people can access loans with low interest rates below 10 percent provided by CRDB Bank,” said Ambassador Batilda Burian, Tabora regional commissioner.  

  • BAT Prevails in Tanzania Distributor Dispute

    BAT Prevails in Tanzania Distributor Dispute

    Photo: somemeans

    British American Tobacco Kenya has prevailed in an eight-year legal battle against a distributor in Tanzania, sparing it from paying a TZS3.2 billion ($1.4 million) court award, reports The East African.

    The Tanzania Court of Appeal annulled a 2016 decision by a lower court awarding the money to Mohans Oysterbay Drinks as damages after it sued BAT Kenya over the termination of a cigarette supply contract.

    Mohans claimed it had the exclusive rights to sell BAT products in Tanzania, which the cigarette maker disputed.

    “In our view, there was no evidence to prove the existence of a distributorship agreement between the parties nor its breach,” said the appellant court.

    Mohans started importing and supplying BAT cigarettes in Tanzania in 2000. However, in 2014, BAT awarded an exclusive distribution contract to another firm after a review of the cigarette maker’s business model.

    Mohans challenged the decision in Tanzania’s high court, saying that BAT had unlawfully terminated a contract. BAT said there was no such contract.

    In September 2016, the high court held that an implied contract between the parties existed in their 14 years of engagement and awarded Mohans damages for loss of goodwill and money invested in the business.

    In overturning that ruling, the Court of Appeal ruled that the parties’ business relationship was “neither express nor implied agreement.”

    Further, the judges said the high court had erred in its decision given that Mohans had rebuffed an attempt by BAT to formalize the distributorship agreement.