U.S.-Tanzania Business Roundtable

On Wednesday, September 22nd, Corporate Council on Africa (CCA) held the “US-Tanzania Business Roundtable”. The event was co-hosted with the Tanzanian Private Sector Foundation, an organization devoted to promoting private sector-led social and economic development in Tanzania. As part of the CCA’s 2021 UNGA series, the event was our first in-person meeting in New York in over a year. The Roundtable servedas an opportunity to discuss opportunities for doing business in Tanzania and featured H. E. Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of the United Republic of Tanzania.The panel also included Minister Liberata Mulamula, Foreign Affairs Minister of Tanzania and Angelina Ngalula, Chairperson of the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation.Florie Liser, President and CEO of the Corporate Council on Africa, delivered the opening remarks, emphasizing the impressive economic growth Tanzania has made in recent years. She noted the opportunities for enhancement as “our members are invested in a number of Tanzania’s key growth sectors including tourism, energy, financial services, infrastructure, and health.”During the dialogue, Ms. Ngalula emphasized the opportunities for growth in these industries and the need to promote market access. She stressed the importance of institutions such as TPSF and CCA in the fostering of “a strong and lasting relationship between our two [country’s] private sectors.”These sentiments were echoed by Minister Mulamula stating that the current climate in Tanzania of rapid economic growth and a stable market make now the “right and opportune time to energize the business community in the United States”. She then introduced President Hassan to speak further on the ongoing friendship between Tanzania and the United States.In her opening remarks. President Hassan praised the event, stating that “this forum compliments our desire to put trade and investment at the forefront of our bilateral relations between Tanzania and the United States”. She emphasized the role of the private sector, referring to it as the “engine of the modern economy”.President Hassan described the opportunities to do business between the two countries as “enormous”. She expressed her “readiness and desire to improve the economic ties with the USA to a greater height”, thanking CCA for holding the event which provided “the opportunity for the business communities of our two friendly countries to meet and explore ways of improving investment and trade.”Land and geography were identified by President Hassan as two of Tanzania’s greatest assets and opportunities for greater improvement in investment and trade. In terms of land, she promoted increased cultivation of the more than 30 million hectares of available land in the country. As for geography, Tanzania has access to over 360 million people in Southern Africa through the Southern African Development Community and more than 175 million people in the East African Community, along with access to the Indian Ocean.The dialogue featured members from CCA and the Tanzanian Private Sector Foundation. Attendees included the Bizzell Group, Lockheed Martin International, GE, CCA Board Member Witney Schneidman of Covington & Burling LLP, Johnson & Johnson, Bechtel Energy, Standard Bank, ExxonMobil Corporation, and Manchester Trade.In her closing remarks, President and CEO Liser expressed CCA’s continued mandate to support the economic development of Tanzania and other African nations by continuing to provide a platform for discussions on U.S.- Africa collaboration for economic growth.The CCA UNGA Special Sessions were generously sponsored by AfricaGlobal Schaffer; Axxess; the Bizzell Group; Flutterwave; Google; Jean Boulle Group; and Lockheed Martin International.