South Africa provides a lesson to Tanzania on minerals.

By Selemani Msuya

Tanzania has been urged to focus on education, skills, investment, negotiations, and capital to make the mining sector beneficial to the country.

This advice was given by the Legal Officer of the Dust A Side Institute, Sean Dikgale, while speaking to this journalist at the Julius Nyerere International Convention Center (JNICC), where the International Mining Investment Forum is taking place.

Dikgale stated that the mining sector is one of the major contributors to the National GDP and can be of significant benefit if managed by the right people.

He mentioned that South Africa succeeded in this sector by investing in specialized universities for mining, which empowered the community to effectively manage this vital resource.

"In South Africa, we have invested in skills, education, investment, negotiation, capital, and patriotism as crucial pillars to manage this sector. Therefore, Tanzania should examine if they have done justice to these areas," he said.

The official called on the Tanzanian government to provide funding for young people interested in mining-related studies to help the country through this sector.

Dikgale highlighted that the mining sector contributes more than 8% of South Africa's GDP and employs over 400,000 people.

He emphasized that Tanzania and African countries, in general, can achieve progress through mining if they focus on the areas he mentioned earlier.

He stated that what is needed is a conducive environment to attract investors from all over the world, while also urging the community and leaders to avoid corruption.

He mentioned that this sector should uplift the low-income citizens who are surrounded by mineral resources. Speaking about this sector, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Minerals, Kheri Mahimbila, said, "I would like to take this opportunity to briefly explain the achievements of the mining sector in the years 2021 and 2022. First, the increase in the value of mineral exports from $3.1 billion in 2021 to $3.4 billion in 2022. Second, the increase in employment in major mining projects from 14,308 jobs in 2021 to 16,462 jobs in 2022

He said this achievement is the result of implementing the 2009 Mining Policy, the amount of domestic procurement in major mining projects has increased from $700 million in 2021 to $1.1 trillion in 2022. These achievements have fueled the growth of the mining sector from 9.4% in 2021 to 10.9% in 2022."