Governing Tanzania’s gas. Why it matters

Tanzania is one of ten countries in Africa with natural gas resources. According to Ministry of Energy records, up to now, Tanzania has consumed about 0.5 TCF of its natural gas, thus, more exploration is underway to make Tanzania the next-sub-Saharan powerhouse in natural gas. According to the NRGI-2017 governance index, Tanzania oil and gas sector scored 53…

Tanzania is one of ten countries in Africa with natural gas resources. The East African nation of more than 55 million people stands on 57.74 Trillion Cubic Feet (TCF) of natural gas, located in the SongoSongo gas fields in Lindi and Mnazi Bay in Mtwara regions.

According to Ministry of Energy records, up to now, Tanzania has consumed about 0.5TCF of its natural gas, thus, more exploration is underway to make Tanzania the next-sub-Saharan powerhouse in natural gas. Hence, this draws the most important question: How can Tanzania transform its natural gas potential via effective participatory natural gas economy governance?

Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) governance index depicts an important narrative in this context. According to the NRGI-2017 governance index, Tanzania oil and gas (O&G) sector scored 53 points out of 100 (per NRGI standards, it has a weak position), making Tanzania the 39th state out of 81 analyzed globally.

In the same context, on value realization, which comprises licensing, taxation, local impact and state-owned enterprises, Tanzania scored 65 points (12th/89).

In revenue management, including national budgeting, subnational resource revenue, and sovereign wealth funds, Tanzania scored 40 points …

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