Welcome to Tanzania Industry and construction is a major and growing component of the Tanzanian economy, contributing 22.2 percent of GDP in 2013. This component includes mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity and natural gas, water supply, and construction. Mining contributed 3.3 percent of GDP in 2013. The vast majority of the country’s mineral export revenue comes from gold, accounting for 89 percent of the value of those exports in 2013. It also exports sizeable quantities of gemstones, including diamonds and tanzanite. All of Tanzania’s coal production, which totalled 106,000 short tons in 2012, is used domestically.
Only 15 percent of Tanzanians had access to electric power in 2011. The government-owned Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (TANESCO) dominates the electric supply industry in Tanzania. The country generated 6.013 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity in 2013, a 4.2 percent increase over the 5.771 billion kWh generated in 2012. Generation increased by 63 percent between 2005 and 2012; Almost 18 percent of the electricity generated in 2012 was lost because of theft and transmission and distribution problems. The electrical supply varies, particularly when droughts disrupt hydropower electric generation; rolling blackouts are implemented as necessary. The unreliability of the electrical supply has hindered the development of Tanzanian industry. In 2013, 49.7 percent of Tanzania’s electricity generation came from natural gas, 28.9 percent from hydroelectric sources, 20.4 percent from thermal sources, and 1.0 percent from outside the country. The government has built a 532 kilometres (331 mi) gas pipeline from Mnazi Bay to Dar es Salaam. This pipeline was expected to allow the country to double its electricity generation capacity to 3,000 megawatts by 2016. The government’s goal is to increase capacity to at least 10,000 megawatts by 2025.
According to PFC Energy, 25 to 30 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas resources have been discovered in Tanzania since 2010, bringing the total reserves to over 43 trillion cubic feet by the end of 2013. The value of natural gas actually produced in 2013 was US$52.2 million, a 42.7 percent increase over 2012.
Commercial production of gas from the Songo Songo Island field in the Indian Ocean commenced in 2004, thirty years after it was discovered there. Over 35 billion cubic feet of gas was produced from this field in 2013 with proven, probable, and possible reserves totalling 1.1 trillion cubic feet. The gas is transported by pipeline to Dar es Salaam. As of 27 August 2014, TANESCO owed the operator of this field, Orca Exploration Group Inc.
A newer natural gas field in Mnazi Bay in 2013 produced about one-seventh of the amount produced near Songo Songo Island but has proven, probable, and possible reserves of 2.2 trillion cubic feet. Virtually all of that gas is being used for electricity generation in Mtwara.
The Ruvuma and Nyuna regions of Tanzania have been explored mostly by the discovery company that holds a 75 percent interest, Aminex, and has shown to hold in excess of 3.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. A pipeline connecting offshore natural gas fields to Tanzania’s commercial capital Dar es Salaam was completed at the end of April 2015.
