Deals aim to boost investment, trade and investor confidence
Turkey supports Tanzania infrastructure projects, including $1.9 billion railway financing

Tanzania and Turkey have signed agreements to eliminate double taxation and prevent income tax evasion, a move expected to boost bilateral investment and trade, local media reported on Tuesday.

The agreements are expected to strengthen investor confidence by removing the risk of income being taxed in both countries.

Tanzania’s Finance Minister Mussa Omar said the objective was to turn political commitments into concrete trade and investment outcomes, with the two countries aiming to reach $1 billion in bilateral business.

Omar said a joint commission would oversee implementation of the agreements, identify new areas for cooperation and deepen collaboration in sectors including industry, agriculture, tourism, energy and skills development.

He added that although Tanzania and Turkey signed a bilateral investment treaty in 2011, the absence of a double taxation agreement had remained a missing element in economic ties between the two countries.

According to Omar, the new agreements send a positive signal to Turkish investors as Tanzania seeks to position itself as a more attractive destination for foreign capital.

Relations between Tanzania and Turkey have strengthened in recent years, particularly after Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan visited Ankara in 2024.

According to data from the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), Turkish exports to Tanzania totaled nearly $251 million, led by pesticides, crude iron bars, and cereal flour and pellets.

Tanzania’s exports to Turkey mainly included unprocessed tobacco, fishing vessels and heavy construction equipment.

Turkey is also supporting infrastructure development in Tanzania, including the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), with financing worth $1.9 billion from Turkey’s export credit bank, Türk Eximbank.

Tanzania has launched several reforms aimed at improving the business climate, including streamlining company registration procedures, digitizing tax and customs systems, and reforming land, labor and commercial dispute resolution frameworks.

Lydie Mobio