• Tanzania sets an ambitious target to attract $15 billion in annual FDI by 2026, with Vice President Philip Mpango pitching U.S. investors at the UN General Assembly.
• Bilateral trade with the U.S. has more than tripled since 2020, driven by value-added exports, while remittances and mobile-money flows highlight growing economic links.
• Priority sectors for investment include critical minerals, agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, infrastructure and digital services, as the government presses for deeper tariff relief.

Tanzania is aiming to more than double annual foreign direct investment to $15 billion by 2026 and is using this week’s United Nations General Assembly in New York to court deeper U.S. engagement. Vice President Philip Mpango, who is preparing to step down, unveiled the target at the Tanzania–U.S. Trade and Investment Forum, where he urged American companies to expand their presence and called for lasting tariff relief to help Tanzanian industrial goods reach U.S. consumers.

Trade momentum between the two countries is already building. U.S. Census Bureau data show two-way goods trade reached $770 million in 2024, up from $228 million in 2020. U.S. exports to Tanzania stood at $566 million, while Tanzanian shipments to the United States—mostly agricultural products and textiles—quadrupled to $204 million over the same period. American development-finance institutions have supported power, transport and health projects during the past decade, though no consolidated public tally of U.S. investment guarantees exists.

Officials in Dar es Salaam have identified several priority areas for fresh U.S. capital, including critical minerals such as graphite at Mahenge, nickel-cobalt at Kabanga and hard-rock lithium deposits that are in growing demand for the global energy transition. Other targets include agro-processing in cashew, coffee and cotton; pharmaceutical production to cut the country’s reliance on imports; battery and electric-vehicle supply chain projects linking mines to refining capacity; and logistics and infrastructure, most notably the 2,561-kilometer Standard Gauge Railway under construction.

The government is also pressing for permanent tariff reductions beyond the temporary duty-free access offered under the African Growth and Opportunity Act. Officials argue that deeper concessions are essential if Tanzania is to transition from raw-material exports to higher-value goods. They cite the African Continental Free Trade Area, which opens access to a consumer base of 1.3 billion people, as an added incentive for U.S. companies to use Tanzania as a regional hub.

Tanzania’s digital economy is also expanding rapidly, with mobile-money transactions topping $75 billion in 2024, according to the Bank of Tanzania. Diaspora flows provide another link: Tanzanians living in the U.S. send home around $100 million a year in remittances, World Bank data show, helping sustain household consumption and reinforcing bilateral ties.

The $15 billion FDI goal is ambitious, and meeting it will require easing infrastructure bottlenecks and preserving a stable policy environment. Still, with momentum building across mining, agriculture and technology, Tanzania sees UNGA 80 as a launchpad to pitch itself as one of Africa’s next top investment destinations.

Cynthia Ebot Takang