Tanzania, United Republic of - Investment Act (English)
Tanzania, United Republic of - Investment Act (English)
Tanzania, United Republic of - Investment Act (English)
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Contents
Part I. Preliminary
Part II. The centre and its functions
Part IV. General provisions
Tanzania Investment Act, 1997
Act No. 26 of 1997
Official Gazette No. 40 Vol. 78
[Preamble]
An Act to make provision for investment in Tanzania, to provide for more favourable
conditions for investors, and for related matters.
Part I. Preliminary
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Tanzania Investment Act, 1997, and shall come into operation
on the date which the Minister may, by notice published in the Gazette, appoint.
Section 2. Application
1) Subject to this Section, this Act shall apply to any business enterprise which meets the
requirement specified in subsection (2) other than—
a. a business enterprise which is authorised to conduct reconnaissance, prospecting or
mining operations under the M ining Act, 1979, or is seeking authorization to conduct any
such operations;
b. a business enterprise which is authorized to conduct exploration or production operations
or to construct or operate a pipeline under the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act,
1980, or is seeking authorization to conduct any such operation;
c. a business enterprise which is engaged in the manufacture, marketing or distribution of
harzadous chemicals, armaments or any type of explosives.
2) The businesses specified for the purpose of this section which may enjoy the benefits and
protection provided under this Act, are those which—
a. if wholly owned by a foreign investor or if a joint venture, the minimum investment capital is
not less than Tanzanian Shillings equivalent of US dollars three hundred thousand (US$
300,000); or
b. if locally owned, the minimum investment capital is not less than Tanzanian shillings
equivalent of US dollars one hundred thousand (US$100,000).
3) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (1)(a) and (b), the provisions of Section 21
which relates to guarantees of transfer of capital, profits and dividends and Section 22 which
relates to the guarantees against expropriation, shall apply to any business enterprise which
holds a mineral right granted under the Mining Act, 1979, or a licence granted under the
Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act, 1980, as a though the holder has for the purpose
of those provisions been granted a certificate of incentives and protection.
4) Nothing in Section 22 relating to expropriation shall be read or construed as limiting or
qualifying the right of the Minister or the Commissioner acting under and in accordance with
the Petroleum (Exploration and Production) Act, 1980 or the Mining Act, 1979, to terminate a
licence granted under those laws.
5) Notwithstanding subsection (1), the Centre shall assist all investors, whether or not this Act
applies to them to obtain necessary permits, authorizations, approvals, registrations,
consents, licences and any other matter required by law for a person to set up and operate
invesment.
Section 3. Interpretation
In this Act, unless the context requires otherwise—
"Board" means the Board of Directors of the Centre appointed under section 7;
"benefits" includes facilities and incentives provided by or pursuant to this Act;
"business enterprise" means any industry, project, undertaking or business to which this Act
applies or an expansion, restructuring, rehabilitation or technical improvement of the industry,
project, undertaking or business or any part of the business, provided that the business
enterprise is profit motivated and operated on commercial principles;
"capital" means all cash contribution, plant, machinery, equipment, buildings, spare parts, and
other business assets other than goodwill which are not consumed in the regular operations
of the business and have a life of more than twelve monks;
"Centre" means the Tanzania Investment Centre establishd by section 4; "certificate" means
the cortificate of incentives issued under section 17(1); "facilities" include licences, approvals
and permits necessary for the establishment of a business enterprise which an investor may
be obliged to obtain for the purposes of this Act;
"foreign capital" means convertible currency, plant, machinery, equipment, spare parts, raw
materials and other business assets other than goodwill that enters Tanzania with no initial
disbursement of foreign exchange and are intended for the production of goods and services
related to an enteprise to which this Act applies;
"foreign investor" in the case of a natural person means a person who is not a citizen of
Tanzania, and the case of a company, a company incorporated under the laws of any country
other than Tanzania in which more than fifty percent of the shares are held by a person who
is not a citizen of Tanzania, and in the case of partnerships, means a partnership in which the
partnership controlling interest is owned by a person who is not a citizen of Tanzania;
"foreign loan" means a loan obtained from outside Tanzania denominated in any currency
other than the Tanzanian currency;
"incentives" means tax reliefs and concessional tax rates which may be accessed by an
investor under the Income Tax Act, 1973, the Customs Tariff Act, 1976, the Sales Tax Act,
1976 and any other law for the time being in force, and includes additional benefits that may
be accessed by an investor under sections 19 and 20;
"investment" means the creation or acquisition of new business assets and includes the
expansion, restructuring or rehabilitation of an existing business enterprise;
"local investor" means a natural person who is a citizen of Tanzania; a Company incorporated
under the laws of Tanzania in which the majority of the shares are held by a person who is a
citizen of Tanzania; or a partnership in which the partnership controlling interest is owned by
a person who is a citizen of Tanzania; "member" means a member of the Board of the
Centre; "Minister" means the Minister responsible for investments;
"technology transfer agreement" means an agreement relating to an enterprise to which this
Act applies that involves—
i. the assignment, sale or use of foreign patents, copyright, trademarks or other industrial
property rights;
ii. the supply of foreign technical know-how or technologica knowledge;
iii. foreign technical assistance, design and engineering, consultancy or other technical
services in any form they may be supplied;
iv. foreign managerial, marketing or other services.
—except that an agreement shall not be regarded as a technology transfer agreement for the
purposes of this Act if its duration does not exceed a period of eighteen months.
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