DAR ES SALAAM — Tanzania is sharpening its economic ambitions. The Government has announced that the Minority Interests Forum 2026, organized by the Office of the Treasury Registrar (OTR), will convene in Arusha from March 16 to 18 as a dedicated platform for discussing, among other priorities, strategies to accelerate the country’s journey toward upper-middle-income status by the year 2050.
The forum, set to take place at the PAPU Building, is expected to bring together between 150 and 200 Board Directors and Chief Executive Officers from 56 companies in which the Government holds a minority stake — that is, less than 51 percent. It represents a deliberate effort to align the stewardship of these strategic investments with the broader aspirations of Tanzania’s Vision 2050.
Speaking at a press conference in Dar es Salaam on February 24, Ms. Lightness Mauki, Director of Performance Management, Monitoring, and Evaluation for Commercial Enterprises, framed the forum as a turning point in how the country approaches economic governance. Tanzania’s journey toward upper-middle-income status, she said, is not a matter of luck — it is the result of strategic decisions, sound management, and forward-looking leadership. “We are going to discuss how to navigate economic and technological changes so that we can achieve the goal of upper-middle-income status within the next 24 years, as outlined in Vision 2050,” she said.
This year’s theme — From Routine Monitoring and Supervision to Forward-Looking Leadership and Management — signals a deliberate shift in philosophy. Rather than relying on conventional performance tracking, the forum aims to inspire a leadership culture that identifies risks early, seizes strategic opportunities, and responds with agility to rapid economic and technological change. The ambition is bold: scaling Tanzania’s economy from approximately $85 billion today to $1 trillion by 2050, while building a competitive and inclusive nation.
Ms. Mauki stressed that reaching this goal demands a break from routine management and a deepening of collaboration between the public and private sectors. “We need management that is not business as usual, and we must work hand in hand with the private sector,” she said. She also underscored the importance of safeguarding national resources and borders with what she described as “great jealousy,” to ensure that investments deliver real value for the nation.
The OTR, she added, will continue to ensure that all government investments in minority-held companies remain productive, deliver the expected returns, and contribute meaningfully to Tanzania’s progress toward its economic targets. Through the forum, company leaders will discuss the alignment of their institutional strategies with Vision 2050, the use of technology to strengthen transparency and accountability, and the analysis of economic and competitive data to improve investment decision-making.
The case for optimism is grounded in recent performance. According to official figures presented by the OTR, minority-held government entities have delivered significant growth over the past four years, strengthening government revenue through taxes and dividends, expanding employment, and stimulating growth across several strategic sectors. The value of the Government’s investment in these companies surged from TZS 821.51 billion in 2020 to TZS 1.94 trillion in 2024, a rise of 136 percent. Gross revenue climbed 58 percent to TZS 10.74 trillion, while annual profits rose from TZS 1.79 trillion to TZS 1.95 trillion. Perhaps most striking is the growth in government dividends, which leapt from TZS 58.26 billion to TZS 266.52 billion over the same period — an increase of 357 percent. These companies also contributed approximately TZS 3.67 trillion in corporate income tax between 2020 and 2024.
In Ms. Mauki’s assessment, these results confirm that the current trajectory is sound — but there remains an urgent responsibility to increase the pace, creativity, and efficiency of leadership across these companies if Tanzania is to meet its economic goals by 2050. “As we head toward 2050, we need firm, forward-looking leadership that takes proactive steps,” she concluded. “This is not the time to wait for results; it is the time to create them.”