Tanzania Looks to Boost Tobacco Sector 

Tanzania wants to increase export of tobacco.  In its most recent export expansion plans, the government announced it is eyeing markets in traditionally large consumers of tobacco products such as the Middle East, Northern Africa and Eastern Asian markets.  Tobacco and tobacco products are one of the big forex earners for Tanzania raking in an annual return of USD265m on average. Tanzania is the ninth largest tobacco producer in the world. However, tobacco production has been largely affected by ‘world market buyers who control the price and volume of tobacco that enters the market.’  In this regard, Tanzania’s Deputy Minister for Agriculture Hussein Bashe noted that global demand for tobacco has declined by five per cent. However, he remained confident that despite global decline in demand, Tanzania, according to him, expects to increase production to 67,000 metric tonnes in 2020/21 from 42,000 metric tonnes in 2019/20.  He was also very clear that specifically 65 per cent of cigarettes produced in Tanzania are to be exported.  The Minister for Agriculture, Prof Adolf Mkenda, stated that the government wants to export its tobacco to China, Middle East, Indonesia, Algeria, Egypt and Sudan, among other countries.  He urged for value addition to tobacco before export to attract higher selling prices and pointed to the need to revive processing factories citing